Ninja of Redwall
by I820COOKIES
Summary: Naruto leaves the village at a young age, and soon finds his way to Redwall. Years later when Cluny the scourge threatens to destroy them, Naruto must help to defend his new home A\U naruto\redwall crossover
1. Chapter 1

I've rarely seen a Naruto Redwall crossover, so I decided to write this one

* * *

(5 years earlier)

"(Sob) why?" asked a depressed Naruto as he walked into his small run down apartment. The 7 year old boy had just returned from yet another pointless beating from the villagers. His arms, legs, and face were littered with bruises and cuts, along with a large trail of blood that had snaked out of his broken nose and onto his little orange shirt. It was as if someone had just taken a pain brush and simply splattered red paint onto him. And his yellow spiky hair which had looked rather nice that morning, was now a ragged bloody mess. On his back, laid what remained of his backpack, this was the 13 pack this week that had been torn up and destroyed by the ruthless hate of the villagers. Naruto, all beaten up and miserable yet again, walked into his apartment and locked the door behind him. He tossed what was once his backpack into the corner, and then with a swift motion, landed face flat on his bed.

"What did I ever do?" he whimpered again.

"How come nobody in this village even bothers to care for me?" every time he ever asked this question to anyone, the only answer he would get was a fist to the face, or a kick in the stomach. Followed by the words.

"_Die demon!"_

"_Get away from me you monster!"_

_UGHH! Why don't you ever just die?!?"_

he couldn't get anywhere in the village without hearing anyone even mutter the word "Demon" or "Monster". He had pretty much heard these words at least 20 times a day, to naruto's way of thinking, it was like being caught in a tape recorder, it just kept repeating itself and repeating itself. And that is what Naruto's life was doing. Everyday, it was all the same. Getting called names, getting made fun of, and most of all, receiving beatings from mobs of villagers that would get him at even the most random of places. Yes naruto's life was nothing but a tape recorder, but Naruto didn't want that any longer. The little boy sat in his bed, face buried into his pillow while his tears streaked down his checks like two water falls side by side.

"All I ever wanted was just to be accepted." he said.

"All I wanted was friends, or at least one." out of all the kids at the ninja academy, Naruto alone was the loneliest, and worst. Naruto could never seem to do any of the assignments right, even the simplest juitsu for him was impossible to accomplish without screwing up. No matter how hard he tried, nothing ever seemed to change. Normally a boy like him would turn to his friends or family for help, for comfort, but not only did he have no friends, but also a family. All his life he lived alone, no brothers, no sisters, or mothers or fathers. The only one who ever looked after, one of the two people in his life that had ever given him a hint of respect, was the third hokage. He would always comfort him and would always be there for him. But as fatherly and kind as he was, he never had the time to adopt him. So those chances of a family went out the window years ago. And not one single kid he knew at the academy would ever even try to help him, or get him on the right track. Instead, they would always fill the room up with laughter every time something Naruto did went wrong, even some of the shinobi would join in on the torment. Even the ones he _considered _friends weren't ever there for him. Like Kiba for instance. Kiba, along with his little wolf pup Akumaru, would always work together to play tricks on Naruto. Either sneaking things from the teachers desk that wasn't their's and putting it under Naruto's desk, or just having Akumaru snatch Naruto's lunch when he had his back turned. Another so called friend, was Sakura. Naruto for the longest time had a huge crush on the pink haired girl, but Sakura on the other hand, couldn't give a rat's ass about how Naruto felt. The one and only thing that mattered in her world, was Sasuke. Sasuke was more of a rival to Naruto then a friend. Ever since the day he meet him, and observed his amazing skills, Naruto suddenly dreamed and dreamed again of one day, becoming just as strong as sasuke, or stronger. But with Naruto's progress now, it wasn't looking so bright. Naruto cried for what seemed like an eternity. He simply couldn't stop, not after all the shit he has been throught. Then with a loud sniff, naruto finally said.

"I can't (sniff) take it anymore." with all the strength he had left, he pried himself into a sitting position, his arms wrapped around his legs and his chin resting on his knees.

"Wha- what am I gonna do?" what was there to do? Nothing he did, nothing he accomplished never even caught the attention of the villagers for the slightest second, unless a mob was after him that is. He sat there, silent tears streaming down his cheeks, deep in his thoughts.

"Maybe.." he thought.

"..maybe I can see the hokage." yes, the hokage, the only one who was ever there for him, the only one who ever showed a single sign of respect.

"Maybe he can do something." so he slipped off his bed and headed over to his wardrobe. After throwing on a new fresh shirt, he started making his way to the door.

"Hes _got _to do something." he added as he stopped at the door. He reached out and grasped the knob. Then with a small twist, begun to open it. But before he could get open all the way, a thought stopped him.

"Wait." he said.

"Since when has he ever done _anything _for me?" Besides the apartment and money he provided him, Naruto could never even recall a single moment that the hokage had ever done anything to the damn villagers for hurting him. Why hasn't he ever taken the time to teach those people a lesson? It didn't take long for Naruto to figure it out. And the answer flared in his mind as he suddenly became overflowed with anger.

"..Never.." he growled softly.

"That old goat has _never_ done anything to help me!" He yanked his hand away from the knob as if it had bitten him.

"All these years, I have been beaten up, laughed at, and he never has done a single thing about it!" soon the boy could feel tears begin to wet his cheeks again.

"I bet he doesn't he care about me!" He sank into the corner as his tears begun yet again. Naruto cried and cried, he simply couldn't stop, no matter how hard he tried. But soon, his whimpers morphed into growls that grew with every second. His hands slowly clenched up into fist. And he begun to grit his teeth, almost like a wolf.

"I hate his place." he snarled.

"I HATE IT!" he impaled his little fist into the wall, sending a small tremor through it. The little boy stood there, his breath coursing with the heaviness of rage.

"I can't live like this anymore." he said, his tone suddenly soft.

"But what can I do?" What could he do? Well he knew what he _wasn't _gonna do. He wasn't gonna make another useless attempt to impress the villagers. NO! He was finished with making a fool of himself, and receiving beatings. And these were pretty much always the outcome of every plan he had ever cooked up.

"No matter what I do, no matter what I say, nothing changes in this village." he said.

"if thats how it always is, how would my dream of hokage be any different?" he realized, he had completely forgotten about his dream. His one goal in life, bigger than his rivalry with Sasuke, the position as hokage. Ever since the village came to be, it has been ruled by four hokages since. And it was Naruto's one dream to one day follow in their footsteps. But it wasn't the first second or third he was focused at, his main inspiration was the fourth hokage. The fourth was considered the greatest of all the hokages. Naruto has probably seen his photo hanging in the old man's office thousands of times, staring back down at him with those fearless, bold eyes, it was like seeing him in person. But sadly, the photo was all that remained of the brave man. Cause many years ago, a horrible tragedy struck the village. A monster had erupted from the darkness, and begun to reek havoc on the village. And this was no ordinary monster. It was a demon. A demon known only as, Kyuubi, the nine tailed fox, the worst of all the nine demons. The ninja of the village did all they could to defend their home, but they were no match for the strength of the monster. Then in a final attempt to save his village, the fourth confronted the fox alone. In a terrible battle, the fourth had some how _destroyed _the kyuubi. But unfortunately, the battle also cost him his life. So with the fall of the Kyuubi and the fourth, the village was saved. But how could Naruto ever be something like the fourth? After all, he was considered the worst student in the academy, and nobody ever even thought of giving him a hint of support, besides the hokage and the other only person that cared for him, Iruka.

"Oh what was I thinking?" he moaned.

"I never had a chance of being hokage." tears started to form once again in his eyes. But instead of crying, another feeling rose up in him.

"And besides..." he said in a hard tone.

"Whats the point of leading a village as hateful and heartless as this one?" his hands balled up into fists.

"This village doesn't deserve a hokage." he growled softly.

"It doesn't deserve anything." the same could go for Naruto. He didn't deserve _any_ of the shit the village had given him his whole life. All the beatings, the name calling, the mockery. Naruto couldn't believe he had wasted half his life just to try and help a village which dosn't even give a rat's ass about him. It was all a complete waste of his time! And why would the village want him as hokage, the only thing they would ever want from him was for him to just disappear, or better yet, dead. After that very thought, it all came to him. It was as if someone had just unlocked something in his mind that had been locked away for all these years.

"So..." he said.

"This place wants me gone huh?" he stood up.

"Well... maybe I should just give this place what it wants, in other words... I have to leave, for good. Naruto had made up his mind. There was not a single point to staying in the village any longer. No one cared for him, no one loved him, no one would give a damn if he left. Naruto went over to his bed, reached under it, and pulled out a large backpack that he always kept under there just in case.

"I should only pack the stuff I need." he said.

"And in the meantime, maybe I should clean out the apartment." naruto spent the next hour straightening our the room. He made the bed, swept he floors, dusted off the counters, threw out all the empty ramen cups that littered the kitchen, and threw away any left over food in the fridge. Soon enough, the apartment look almost exactly like it did when he first moved in there, in was almost like deja vu. He tossed his backpack over his shoulders, which contained nothing but a few pairs of clothes, a few packs of dried up ramen, a couple hundred dollars that he managed to swipe from the hokage's desk a few weeks ago for extra food, and an old picture of him and the hokage, then placed the keys on the nightstand. Naruto sighed, he had lived in this room half his life, it was actually kinda hard, leaving this behind, but he had to. After taking one last look around, he exited out the window.

About an hour later.

Naruto peeked over his shoulder as he stopped on the road for a moment. Behind him, about a mile or 2 away, lay the village. He was far away, but it was still in clear site. He had spent his whole life here in the leaf village. Everything that had happened to him, every memory, had taken place here. Even thougt most of them were painful and unpleasant, he had a tiny stash of good moments here. All the times Iruka took him out for ramen, observing the massive stone faces of the past hokages in the mountain side, first time ever getting into the academy. But it wasn't the memories that were getting to him, it was the fact that neither the hokage nor Iruka even knew what he was doing. He left no note, he didn't even say goodbye. The thought of this made his heart twinge. But it was for the best. He couldn't leave anything that could be a lead to him. He couldn't tell Iruka or the hokage he was leaving, they would probably stop him. After a moment, naruto only said one thing.

"well... goodbye." with those final words, he begun to make his way down the road. The village behind him shrunk and shrunk until eventually, vanished under the blanket of the night. Naruto knew, there was no turning back, it was the beginning of an aimless journey, in search of a new home.

Hope you liked the first chapter. I haven't updated in a while, so I'm a bit rusty, so go easy on the comments. Naruto will find Redwall in the third or fourth chapter. I'm following the tv series of redwall, cause I've never red the book (and I'm far to lazy to) I'll be changing just a few things that happened, and maybe adding a few new characters in. I'll try to update more soon, but in the mean time, R&R :)


	2. Chapter 2

Still 5 years earlier

It had been at least two days since Naruto had fled the village. He had covered at least 20 miles since then, a rather good distance for a boy his age. And it was the farthest for him, since he had never even set foot outside the village until now. Since he was no longer entrapped by the walls or the buildings of the village, everything was so, different. he felt like he had taken a step into a completely different world. Lets just hope this _new world _would be much more welcoming than the village. Naruto peered around at everything in sight. He had never seen so many trees in his life, since they never had that many trees inhabiting the village, cept for the training grounds and stuff. But the trees weren't the main thing on his mind. The one thought that kept clinging to his mind was, was anyone following him? Did hokage realize he was gone yet? It had been almost three days, wouldn't there be ninja hot on his trail by now? The thought kept forcing him to peek over his shoulder almost ever second, looking out for anything that resembled a ninja.

"Still no sign of anyone." he said to himself.

"I wonder if they know I'm gone yet?" it had been two days, maybe they didn't notice he was gone, and like anyone would care.

"Its best I keep moving thought." He continued walking.

Later that night...

A small pot containing some boiling water and dried ramen rested above a small fire Naruto managed to build. He was camped out just about a few hundred yards from the road, so nobody would see him. A dense chill had blanketed the land that night, since it was right in the middle of winter at the time. The stars were shrouded from view by a sheet of clouds, leaving the forest in complete darkness. The only light for miles was Naruto's little fire, which barely did anything to brighten things up. He stirred in the flavoring, then poured the ramen into a small bowl.

"I'm making some good progress." naruto said as he vacuumed down some tasty noodles.

"If I keep this up, they will never catch up to me." After he finished his warm meal, he rolled out a small sleeping bag, wiggled inside, and went to sleep.

The next day...

After putting out the fire and covering up any remains of his campsite, Naruto was back on the road again. After about another five miles, his stomach suddenly begun to groan with hunger.

"I'm starving," he groaned.

"Guess I can stop and eat for a bit." Naruto sat himself down, unzipped his bag, and stuck his hand in. but after a few seconds of digging, he didn't feel any ramen packets, he dug deeper, but still nothing. He turned his bag over, and all that fell out was the picture and some clothes.

"Oh great." he said.

"I'm out of food." Naruto sat there. Nothing with him but a bag, and his growling stomach.

"I need to restock on food." Naruto packed all his things back into his bag and threw the bag over his shoulders.

"Maybe theres a town nearby that I could restock at." he said.

"There has to be one out here somewhere." with that, he begun walking yet again. After about another hour or two, he noticed something far out in the distance, about a mile or so. He got a bit closer, and saw they were buildings!

"A town!" he said happily.

"Finally civilization." The town was rather small, stretched out barely over a mile. Yet plenty of people were walking about. Naruto avoided any attention what so ever, cause even the slightest word of him could leak back to the leaf village. After a another ten minutes, Naruto's eyes caught exactly what he was looking for, a ramen stand. He scampered inside and took a seat. It didn't take long for the shop owner to notice him.

"Well hey there!" he said in a rather cheerful voice.

"What can I get for you little guy?" Naruto almost blushed. He had never been called "Little guy" not by anyone, especially in this way.

"Do you have any dried ramen to go?" he asked.

"Sure, anything you need." said the shop owner.

"Oh and may I have one ramen please?" naruto added.

"com'n right up!" within the blink of an eye, naruto had a bowl of hot warm ramen resting in front of him. He took a pair of chopsticks, and took a single slurp. Naruto had to admit, this ramen was very good. Even thought it could never compare to the ramen back in the leaf village, it was still mouth watering. Within minutes, the whole bowl was sucked clean of any ramen.

"And heres the dried ramen you need." said the man as he placed 15 packs of ramen on the counter.

"Thank you sir." naruto said as he reached into his bag for some money. After paying, he stuffed the ramen packs in his bag, and exited the ramen stand.

"This place is really nice." said Naruto.

"maybe I could rest here for a few days." To his left, lay a small motel. He decided he could use a good bed, so what the heck?. As he walked in, the only person in there was a tall women behind a desk, her face buried in a newspaper.

"Um excuse me?" he asked. The women lowered the newspaper and saw the little boy.

"Oh hello there." she said in the young voice.

"You have any rooms available?" the women looked at him as if he had made a joke.

"A room?" she asked.

"We do have them, but don't you think your a little young to be staying by yourself?" Naruto was caught off guard by her question.

"Uhhh..." he said as he tried to make up an answer.

"I'm... waiting for somebody." yes, this could possibly work.

"To, pick me up."

"We'll," said the women.

"If you say so." A smile plastered itself on Naruto's face. She had bought it!

"You'll be in room, uh, 211." she said as she pulled out a key.

"Thank you." Naruto said with a smile as he took the key from her hand. After a minute of scaling the walls, he finally came across 211. As soon as he opened the door, a sudden smell of cleanliness flooded his nostrils. The room was very nice. It had a great view, a soft comfortable looking bed, and a nice spotless floor. Naruto set his things down on the counter, then threw himself onto the bed. It was more comfortable then it looked, like sleeping on a cloud.

"Yeah this will do nicely." Naruto said.

"I'll chill here for a day or two then I'll be back on the road." Naruto eyed the alarm clock that rested on the nightstand. It red 7:32.

"Think its good I get some sleep now." he had been walking all day, it couldn't hurt to bad to retire early. He flicked off the light switch, locked the door, then crawled back into bed. He left his shoes on just in case. Soon enough, he sank into a deep comfortable sleep.

I know this chapter is short, but I was gonna have the next events in one chapter, but that would take to long, so I made them into separate chapters. But anyway, R&R


	3. Caught

Naruto awoke from the pleasant sleep. He outstretched his little arms as a loud yawn escaped his mouth. He peeked out his window to find the morning sun looking back at him while it's rays blanketed the room with a nice orangeish glow.

"Ahhh, that was a great nap." naruto said with a lazy tone. He checked his clock, it said 8:32 AM. He slipped out from under his blankets and onto the floor.

"Now since I'm nice and settled, guess I could go see what there is to do in this town." So after brushing his teeth, throwing on fresh clothes, and eating his way through a good breakfast, Naruto left the confinements of the motel and begun to traverse the town. It was a rather pleasant place. Filled with people walking, talking and going about their business. There were several stores, most the them food stands like ramen and those sort of things. Even thought this was the first day he had ever even been there, it kinda reminded him of the leaf village. But just because it reminded of him of the village, didn't mean it was _exactly _like the village. Unlike the people in the village, the people here were so kind and polite. And everywhere Naruto looked, he saw a smiling face. He continued his walk, observing everything around him.

"Theres gotta be something to pass the time." he said to himself. Soon enough, a building to his left caught his gaze. It was a small spa. And by the looks of it, was open for business. Naruto thought for a moment.

"Well..." he said.

"A nice warm bath would be nice." Yes. The spa's seemingly magical warm water never failed to relax Naruto back in the village, so how should this one be any different? The moment he walked in, that pleasant smell of bath water filled his nostrils. The place was nicer than he thought. It had freshly painted walls, lovely furniture, and a spotless floor. He ordered himself a private spa. After a moment of walking, he arrived at his spa. As he opened the door, a sudden wave of warmth spilled over him. Before him lay a miniature pond of water. In the middle, a rock pierced the water's surface, obviously to give more of that outdoor feeling.

"This looks very nice." naruto said as he begun to strip himself of his clothes. Once he was out of his clothes, he slowly inched his big two into the water. A small warm jolt traveled through his body as he did, meaning it was just the right temperature. Naruto slid the rest of his body into the water. He sighed as the warm water washed over his body, removing all the aches and pains from earlier.

"Ahhh..." the boy sighed.

"Better than it looks." After about twenty minutes of relaxing, Naruto finally left the warm embrace of the water. The moment he got back onto the street, he felt relaxed, re energized, ready to go.

"Ahhh, thats much better." said Naruto. For the rest of the day, Naruto didn't do that much, except occasionally checking out a store, or saying hi to somebody. Even thought all that wasn't that much of a day, it was definitely more than he had ever gotten to do in the leaf village. People there would scowl at the sight of him, and most stores, except for Ichirakus, would only kick Naruto onto the street before he could even buy the slightest thing. It was harsh, (well, more like cruel.) but that was all behind him now. Naruto had wondered around the town so long, that he didn't notice the time. The sky now glowed with hue of orange, and indication that night was on it's way.

"After a little ramen, I Think I'll head off to bed." he said. After enjoying yet another bowl of ramen, Naruto headed off to his motel room.

"This place is so nice," Naruto said to himself as he arrived at the door of the motel. Yes, the place was truly very kind and friendly, and Naruto would give anything to live in such a place, but he couldn't get to use to it, he had to leave soon. The anbu could be hot on his trail by now. And seeing the village again was the last thing Naruto wanted. Naruto walked up to the door. But as he started to open it, something suddenly caught the corner of his eye. He looked, and on the other end of the street, about a few hundred yards away, there was a man. The man was talking to one of the towns folks. A second later, he reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a piece of paper. After the person inspected the paper, he gave his head a shake. Before Naruto could get a better look, the man walked away. Naruto stood there for a moment, than went through the door. After arriving at his room, he thew off his shoes and backpack and crawled onto the bed. He wanted to get some sleep, but his mind was still on that man he saw earlier. He wasn't afraid of him or anything, but there was something about him, something oddly familiar.

"Was I seeing things?" he asked himself.

"Or did that look like somebody I know?" He thought a bit harder.

"Cause I could of sworn that person looked a lot like..." Naruto shifted with unease as he finished with.

"...Iruka sensai." could it have been him? The man had brown hair, a green vest, what looked like a head band, and Naruto could have sworn he had a pony tail type of thing in his hair. Did it mean anything? Were the anbu there? Did they know he was there. After a moment of thought, Naruto shook his head.

"No, it couldn't have been him." he said.

"Theres millions of people out there, some of them are bound to look alike." Naruto felt a bit relieved at the thought.

"And besides, how would they ever know I was here? By the time they found out I was missing, I was probably long gone by then." Yes, how could they ever find him? Its not like they could track him. Even with wolfs, they could never pick up his scent after that long, right?

"Either way, I have to leave tomorrow, can't stay here for much longer." With that, Naruto switched off the lights, and went to sleep.

Later that night...

Naruto awoke suddenly. The clock read 11:12 p.m. He was in the middle of a good sleep, until a small thirsty feeling found it's way into his throat, forcing him to wake up.

"I need some water." he said. He gently slipped off the bed, put some sandals on and headed for the lobby, since the sinks down in the lobby had better water than his room did. A few minutes later, after finishing a nice cold cup of water, he slipped back into bed and went to sleep.

Half an hour later...

Yet again Naruto awoke. But it wasn't thirst this time.

"Great, now I have to use the bathroom." he groaned. And he didn't mean number 1, it was number 2.

"Maybe I shouldn't have eaten all that ramen." He walked over to his bathroom, only to realize he was out of toilet paper. Naruto moaned with frustration, now he had to back downstairs again. He left his room and begun walking down the hall towards the lobby. Naruto was just about to hit the stairs, when the sound of the door opening echoed through the hall.

"_Who would come to a motel at this late at night?"_ naruto thought to himself. He pressed himself to the wall and begun creeping slowly towards the stairs. He slowly peeked over the side of the wall to get a look at the visitors. The moment he looked down there, his heart stopped. There were at least 7 men, but they weren't any visitors, they were ninja. They all had on green vests, dark blue pants, and headbands over their heads. One of the ninja, was a brown haired man, looking to be in his early 20s our 30s. When he saw him, a bolt of terror shot down his spine. It was the man from earlier, the one he saw across the street. Green vest, headband, brown hair, and a ponytail. Naruto's fears had come true, it was none other then Iruka sensai.

"_We've been asking all around for days." _Iruka thought to himself.

"_Someones gotta know something about Naruto." _him and the team had been searching around for any trace of Naruto for three days now, and still nothing. Things looked hopeless for finding him, but they had to keep trying, they couldn't give up yet.

"Excuse me miss." said Iruka.

"Oh hello there." the women behind the counter answered.

"You guys looking for a room?" Iruka shook his head.

"No nothing like that, were on a bit of a mission here, and we just need to ask you a few questions." Iruka reached into his pocket and pullet out a small photo of Naruto and handed it to the women.

"Have you seen this boy?" The women studied the picture for a few seconds before giving a surprised expression.

"Yes," she answered.

"I have seen him."

"YOU HAVE???" Iruka almost yelled as he threw his hands down on the counter.

"Yes, in fact, this boy is one of the people staying here." Iruka almost grabbed her by the shoulders before asking."

"HERE???"

Yes, you must be those people he was waiting for." she added. The ninja looked at her with a confused look.

"ummm, people he was waiting for?" asked Iruka.

"Yeah," said the women.

"He said he was waiting for someone to pick him up, you must be them aren't you?" Iruka looked at his fellow ninja for a few moments before turning back to the women.

"Uhh, yeah." said Iruka.

"We're here to take him home now."

"very well then." the women said with a smile

"I'm sure he'll be happy to be going home." But she was wrong. Naruto was no where near happy, happy didn't mean anything to him. Naruo was on the brink of panicking. The ninja had found him, just a he feared.

"_NO! NO! NO! NO!" _he squealed in his mind as he raced back into his room and locked the door.

"_How did they find me??? How did they know I would be here???" _With no time to lose, he struggled to think up a way to get away. But how could he? They were downstairs, and the only exit was downstairs.

_  
_"what am I gonna do?" he asked himself. His eyes flew around the room in hopes of finding an escape. His eyes fell on the window. He peeked outside and looked down. It looked to be around a 10 foot drop. Then an idea popped in his mind. He tore the sheets and blankets off his bed, and started tyeing them together. This was the oldest trick in the book for escapes, but what else was there? Besides getting caught. No more than a minute later, he heard a knock on his door. Followed by the women's voice.

"Hey, kid." she called out behind the door.

"Those people you were waiting for are here."

"_Why did I have to tell here that???" _naruto thought. He tossed the completed rope out the window and tied the other end to the bed post. It only went down about five feet, but it would have to do.

"Hey kid, you there?" she asked again, followed by a couple more knocks .

"Hes not answering." the women said, obviously directed to one of the ninja.

"We'll handle this." said one of the ninja. Naruto was already outside the window, but he could the hear them start to pound on the door.

"Naruto Uzumaki," said one of them.

"You have no where to run, give yourself up and this will all end nice and painlessly." No way was he gonna give in! He jumped down five feet and begun running down the street. Moments later, the door to the room busted open. And immediately, the anbu flooded in. After inspecting every square inch of the room, Iruka spoke.

"Where is he?" he asked.

"Look." said a female ninja as she pointed to the window. All of them turned to the window to see the dangling bed sheet rope blowing hanging out the window.

"He knew we were here." With that, she put her hands to her mouth a whistled. As quick as a flash, a wolf darted into the room beside the girl.

"See if you can find a scent." she ordered. The wolf sniffled the window for a few moments. Then gave a bark.

"We've got his trail." said the girl. With that, the wolf lept out the window, followed by the ninja. About a few hundred yards down the street, Naruto was high tailing it.

"_Where do I go???" _he thought while he ran.

"_What do I do???" _His eye caught an ally way to his right. Without hesitation, he dashed into it. It was a dead end. He was trapped. Any moment now the ninja would be there. To his left sat a trash can. Naruto stared at it for a few moments. He took a deep breath, lifted the top off, and jumped in. No more than a few moments later, the ninja appeared.

"Where did he go?" one of them demanded.

"Hes somewhere." said another.

"Lets split up, everybody search the town top and bottom. Report back here in half an hour." With that, they were off. Naruto took a peek from his hiding place to see they were gone. He slowly crawled out and begun brushing off some access garbage from his shirt.

"Yuck." groaned Naruto. After cleaning himself off, he walked slowly to the street and peeked around both sides. The coast was clear. He silently made his way down the street toward the town's exit, which was only about a few streets down. After a few minutes or so, he made it out of the town. With that, he begun making his way into the woods. He ran for about ten minutes before stopping to catch his breath.

"They'll never find me out here." he said to himself.

"But I think its best to stay in the woods, not go to any towns for a while." He had to keep moving, but the feeling of sleep was still dragging down on him, slowing him.

"Darn, so tired." he said with a small yawn.

"Need some sleep." Naruto looked around for any place to sleep. Then to his right, he spotted what looked like a small cave made out of a few big rocks. He looked inside. It looked rather promising. Looked big enough for one.

"This will do." he decided. He slipped into the cave with ease. He set his stuff down and laid back. Wasn't the most comfortable place in the world, but good enough for him.

"Better cover the entrance." he said. He went to a nearby bush and plucked a few hand fulls of twigs and sticks. As he started setting them up, a cool breeze washed over him, sending a chill through his spine.

"Best to hurry before it gets to cold." After hurrying through the sticks and leaves, the entrance was nice and blocked off, leaving him in darkness in the cave. He set up his sleeping bag and slipped inside.

"This will do till morning." he said. With that, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

The next morning...

Naruto yawned as he awoke. Light peeked through the cracks of his twig and leaf door. A soft chill hung in the air. He slowly pushed away his door and crawled outside. As soon as he set foot in on the ground, he found it to be ice cold, and kind of wet. He looked all around him to see that snow had coated the ground. Snowflakes slowly fluttered down from the sky like white butterflies and speckled all over the ground.

"No ninja around." he said tiredly.

"I guess I lost them."

"I wouldn't think so." growled a voice behind him. Naruto spun around in the direction of the voice to find himself staring into the eyes of a wolf. He screamed in surprise as he lept back, only to slip on the snow.

"Don't go running again," said the wolf.

"And I won't have to hurt ya'" To Naruto's horror, he knew this wolf. It was Kuromaru. He could easily tell thanks to the missing ear and eye patch. And if Kuromaru was around, that meant... the ninja were too. He suddenly found himself surrounded by the ninja. A couple of them were anbu, but he knew the rest of them. One of them was Hana Inuzuka, Kiba's older sister. Another was Asuma Sarutobi. Big tall guy, black hair, the most noticeable thing about him was that everywhere he went, he always seemed to have a cigarette in his mouth. Of Course Iruka Sensai. Then the last person was Kakashi hataka. His mouth was hidden by a piece of cloth. His headband was completely straight so it slumped over his right eye. Like Asuma, he too had something he always carried around. It was a orange book called Make our paradise. As he heard, it was a rather dirty book. And Kakashi would always have his face buried behind it's orange cover. Nauto sat there, on the brink of panicking. He had been caught, he had no where to go.

"Naruto." said Iruka.

"This is the end of the line, theres no where to run to this time."

"Hes right you know." said Kakashi.

"This is for your own safety."

"Get away from me!" yelled Naruto as he got up and begun to run. Before he could even make out of the group of ninja, a large hand snagged him by the arm.

"Let me go!" Naruto yelled as he begun squirming in the man's grip which seemed like iron.

"Quit it Naruto." said the man. He hoisted Naruto off the ground and sat him down on a rock, allowing Nauto to get a good look at him. He looked rather old, about in his 50s. A river of white hair flowed down his back. He wore a red and white robe. On his back rested a massive scroll. Big enough for Naruto to hide in.

"Listen to me." said the man as he placed his hand atop Naruto's shoulder.

"My names Jiraiya. You don't know me, but I've know you for a long time." Naruto stared at him with confusion.

"I was outside the village when I got a letter saying you were missing. So I decided to come out and help get you back." Jiraiya took his hand off Naruto's shoulder.

"And I have to admit, I'm pretty impressed. You left us searching for days. And you managed to out run us last night. Now thats impressive for someone your age." Naruto shifted slightly before asking.

"So, whats that all supposed to mean?" he asked.

"I mean you put up a good run." answered Jiraiya.

"But its over now, Its time to come home." Naruto instantly backed away from Jiraiya.

"No." he growled softly.

"I don't wanna go back."

"Like or not Naruto, we're taking you back." said Hana.

"NO!" screamed Naruto. But before he could get a chance to run, Jiraiya snatched around the waist and brought him over his shoulder.

"No use in trying Naruto." he said.

"Your going back to the village either way."

"NO!" screamed Naruto as he begun flailing his arms and legs all over Jiraiya's shoulder.

"Let me go! Let me go!" As naruto helplessly squirmed, the ninja begun walking out of the forest towards the road.

"Pipe down kid." snarled Kuromaru.

"Your giving me a headache."

"NO! I WON"T!" Naruto yelled.

"I don't ever wanna go back! I don't wanna be hated again!"

"The village was misunderstood Naruto." said Iruka, attempting to calm him down.

"It will learn to except you, just give it ti-" Before he could finish, naruto cut him off.

"NO! I'VE GIVEN IT PLENTY OF TIME! NOTHING HAS CHANGED!." naruto screamed, his voice starting to fill with anger. Soon, Naruto started clawing at Jiraiya. For a while, Jiraiya barely felt anything. But then suddenly, a jolt of pain suddenly ripped through his shoulder.

"OW!" yelped Jiraiya.

"I said cut that ou-" he started, but stopped. Naruto's screams and yells had been replaced with a soft growl that only got louder with every passing second. His teeth begun sharpening themselves till they were as jagged as a wolf's fangs. His finger nails sharpened as well. A moment later, a small red aura erupted from Naruto's body. It was small at first, but it grew until it covered his entire body. The ninja stood back in shock at what was happening. Naruto opened his eyes and stared back into Jiraiya's. His eyes had changed too. They were no longer sky blue like they used to be. They were now blood red. Both of them were lined with a black slit for a pupil.

"N-Naruto?" Jiraiya asked softly.

"I SAID LET ME GO!!" Naruto roared. He slapped his sharp claw like nails onto Jiraiya's arm, then sank his fangs into his skin. Jiraiya screamed in pure pain as the boy's teeth tore through his flesh. Naruto released his arm and begun running on all fours into the woods at an almost inhuman speed.

"MASTER JIRAIYA!" screamed one of the anbu as he ran to help his fellow comrade.

"DON'T LET NARUTO GET AWAY!" yelled Jiraiya. With that, the remaining ninja took off after Naruto. They chased him for what seemed like an eternity. He showed no signs of slowing or stopping. Until he finally speed out of sight. They had no choice, they had to stop for breath. As they stopped, one ninja pointed out.

"Hey, Wheres Iruka and Kuromaru?" It was true, they were both missing. Only one answer, they were still chasing naruto. Naruto darted randomly through the trees, not a single clue where he was going. But he didn't care, as long as it was away from the ninja. Hot on his trail was Kuromaru. He was fast, but not fast enough to fully outrun Kuromaru.

"I suggest you stop kid!" he snapped as he followed close behind. Naruto didn't answer, but speed up. Kuromaru kept running. But soon his leg gave away, and he tumbled forward as Naruto zoomed onward. Thinking he was in the blue now, he slowed himself slightly. But soon, out of nowhere, Iruka jumped out from behind a tree and tackled Naruto, pinning him to the ground.

"Naruto!" yelled Iruka as they both struggled.

"Listen to me! We're only doing this cause we want you to be safe." Iruka soon felt a bolt of force smash him in the chest and flung him his back. Naruto now had Iruka pinned.

"Safe?" Naruto snarled.

"So taking me back to the one place that wanted me dead, thats safe to you?"

"Naruto please-"

"PLEASE NOTHING!" Naruto barked

"That place hated me, and for what? NOTHING! What did I ever do to them? NOTHING! What did you or the Hokage ever do for me?" the question caught iruka off guard.

"Huh? What??" Iruka didn't have it in him to answer.

"Thats right, NOTHING!" Naruto screamed again.

"You never did anything for me! All you would ever do was sit me down and say "Its alright, the village will except you one day." But has that happened? NO!!"

Iruka didn't say anything.

"Your both just like all the other villagers, you don't care!" naruto jumped off Iruka and onto a branch.

"naruto-" said Iruka, only to be cut off by Naruto's rage.

"SHUT UP!" Naruto screamed.

"I looked up to you," Naruto's voice suddenly became filled with saddness.

"I thought you would always look out for me, but I was wrong." His eyes begun filling with tears as he continued.

"You were never there when they would beat me, mock me, chase me until the sunset. Same with the hokage!" Naruto was about to jump off into the trees, but was stopped by Iruka.

"Naruto," said Iruka.

"You know I would always take care of you, no matter what." Naruto only glared at him.

"Take care of me?" he snarled.

"Sure a few bowls of ramen when I was down, but when I was thrown into the dirt, treated like garbage, I don't think so."

"Naruto-" iruka started.

"I SAID SHUT UP!!" Naruto squealed, his cheeks now flowing with tears.

"I'M SICK OF BEING HATED! I'M SICK OF THE VILLAGE! AND I'M SICK OF YOU!!" With that, Naruto begun sprinting on all fours into the woods.

"NARUTO!" screamed Iruka after him.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder. Soon, Naruto vanished, leaving Iruka alone in the snow. He could have chased him more, but he didn't. He just couldn't.

"_Naruto..." _he thought as he stared out into the mass of trees.

About half a mile away, Naruto was still running. Tears still flowing in his eyes. He ran aimlessly through the woods. He had no clue where he was going, but he didn't care. Naruto continued running, the red aura still surrounding his body. Hours past, until eventually, around nighttime, the aura around him grew dim. Until eventually it faded away. Naruto came to a stop by a tree, completely exhausted.

"What- what happened to me?" he asked himself.

"how did I do all that?" Naruto examined his body. His teeth were back to normal. Same with his nails. He was stumped, but soon he decided he had to keep moving. Even at that distance the ninja could still catch up to him.

"Guess i'll figure it out in the morning." Naruto said as he yawned slightly.

"But now, I need rest." Naruto spotted a tree that was uprooted on one side, forming a small hole in the ground, big enough for him to fit in. After laying a couple piles of twigs and leaves over the roots to block off the cold, he sat cuddled up in his sleeping bag next to a fire he made. After the fire went out, Naruto had slipped into a nice surprisingly warm sleep.

I know I pretty much half assed this chapter, but I felt that I was going into far to much detail about Naruto just being on the road, instead of him in redwall, so I cut out a lot of ideas and just made this part into one chapter. He'll be in redwall by the fifth chapter, so R&R


	4. Mossflower

Naruto awoke suddenly from his peaceful sleep. A soft tired groan escaped him as he sat up. He reached down towards his blanket. But oddly, he didn't feel it. He opened his eyes, and realized he didn't even have his blanket anymore. In fact, he couldn't feel the soft grass below him. He looked all around. There were no trees, no grass, not even the night sky. The ground was hard and cold as ice, sending shivers through his body.

"Where am I?" Naruto asked.

"**In your own mind." **a voice suddenly boomed. Naruto yelped as he flung himself to his feet.

"Who said that?" he asked into the blackness.

"**Over here kit." **it said again. Naruto slowly turned around, and facing him was a giant pair of bared gates. In the middle lay a paper with the kanji word "Seal" on it, obviously being some sort of lock. Naruto slowly approached the gates, when suddenly, two massive blood red eyes erupted from behind the gates, illuminating the room with a red glow. Naruto froze as he felt the thing's gaze upon him.

"**You don't have to be scared." **the thing said again.

"**I won't hurt ya'" **Naruto still kept his distance.

"**One moment." **A sudden bright flash blinded Naruto for a brief moment. When it dimmed, in front of Naruto, stood a horse sized fox. It's claws were big and human like. It's fur was as red as blood. And it's ears were bigger Than Naruto's whole body. Naruto stood deathly still, staring at the giant fox.

"**Come closer" **said the fox.

"**Its time you and I finally talked." **Naruto didn't move an inch.

"Wh- wh- who are you?" Naruto asked, trembling all over.

"And why am I here?"

"**There are a few things you need to know," **the fox answered.

"**Oh, and I by the way, am Kyuubi." **What? Did Naruto's ears deceive him? Or did that fox just say Kyuubi?

"Wait..." naruto said.

"Y- you said y- your k- k- kyuu-" The fox cut him off.

"**Thats right kit." **Answered Kyuubi.

"**What do you think the tails behind me are for? Decoration?" **Naruto had failed to notice the long nine tails behind the fox. The were longer than a full grown man, and swayed and twitched as if they had lives of their own.

"**Now then." **said the fox.

"**Come here." **Naruto was motionless for a few seconds. Soon enough, Naruto cautiously walked forward and sat down in front of Kyuubi.

"**Now, lets chat."**

Jiraiya winced as the medic nin secured a layer of bandages tightly over the spot where Naruto had bitten him. Even after the bandages were applied it still hurt like a mother. It had been hours since they had lost Naruto. Most of the anbu had spent the whole day scavenging the forest for any sign or trace of Naruto. At the camp site was Jiraiya, Iruka, Kakashi, and a medic nin. They were expecting the anbu team back anytime now.

"Its been hours," said Jiraiya.

"They should be back by now."

"Just keep it cool master Jiraiya." Kakashi reassured him, not taking his face out of his book for even a second.

"I'm sure they're alright, just taking their time." Iruka was sitting farthest from the group. He stared at the ground as he continuously twiddled his thumbs, as if he were waiting in the hospital for a blood test result. Then as quick as a flash, the anbu let down from the trees and landed in the camp.

"Well? Anything??" asked Jiraiya rather desperately. Hana let out a long sigh before answering.

"No," she answered.

"We didn't find a single thing." Hana sat down next to a tree.

"No hair, no scent, no blood, no nothing. Its like chasing a ghost." after taking it all in, Jiraiya sighed.

"How do you suppose we find him then?" asked Kakashi.

"Without any leads," said Jiraiya.

"its probably impossible." There was silence for a few moments. Until Asuma stepped in.

"Did that red chakra have anything to do with this?" he asked

"Without doubt." answered Jiraiya.

"And that chakra is no mystery to us, we all know exactly what it is."

"Wait..." said one of the anbu.

"Are you saying... that chakra was-" Jiraiya cut him off.

"Yes." he said.

"The kyuubi's chakra." the whole group shuttered at the very sound of the name.

"He showed so much anger, so much rage that he somehow managed to trigger it." everyone was silent. What did this mean? Was the demon returning?

"Does that mean..." asked asuma.

"... the seal is broken?"

"No" said Jiraiya.

"if it was broken, we'd all be at kyuubi's wrath by now." a bit of relief swept through the camp.

"He probably loosened it a bit, but only enough to release a bit of kyuubi's chakra." Jiraiya sighed before continuing.

"But anyway, theres no hope of finding him right now, its best we return to the village. Nobody seemed to disagree, not even Iruka.

"What do we tell the hokage?" asked Hana.

"The truth." answered Jiraiya.

"The mission failed, Naruto got away" Iruka sighed long and sadly.

"But that doesn't mean hes gone for good." said Jiraiya.

"We'll get him sooner or later, but not today." Jiraiya's gaze shifted towards the trees.

"Wherever he is," said Jiraiya.

"I just hope hes alright."

Kyuubi had just finished explaining to Naruto all the secrets kept from him his whole life. For the longest time, Naruto was in disbelief.

"You said... that I'm..." he began.

"**Thats right kit." **said Kyuubi.

"**Not only are you my vessel, but your also the 4th hokage's boy." **Naruto wouldn't believe it for a second, especially coming from Kyuubi.

"**Ever wondered why you two look so much alike?" **Asked kyuubi. That was true. He always got compliments from Iruka or the hokage on how much like the 4th he looked. He himself even always wondered why he bared similarities to one of the greatest hokages. Just staring at the 4th inside his picture frame sometimes felt more like looking into a mirror.

"**You should be proud." **said Kyuubi.

"**Your the son of a famous man." **Naruto thought for a moment. Him? Son of the legendary 4th hokage? Could he really be? After a moment of thought, Naruto suddenly disagreed.

"No" Naruto said.

"Your lying."

"**Why would I lie​​​?" **asked Kyuubi.

"I could never be his son." said Naruto.

"I may look like him, but mind and ninja wise, we're nothing alike."

"**Hows that?" **Asked Kyuubi.

"You should already know." said Naruto.

"He could probably wipe out entire armies with one juitsu. I on the other hand can't even master a single juitsu, no matter how hard I try." Kyuubi chuckled.

"**Cause those bastards never trained you properly." **

"What do you mean by that?" asked Naruto.

"**Since the moment you started the academy, the second you walked into that classroom door, they had been feeding you a load of bullshit, while their other students get all the training and respect they _don't _deserve." **Yeah, Naruto had noticed that all the time in the academy.

"**Someone like you needs _proper _training. And that reminds me, you still want to be a ninja don't you?" **Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, but.." he started.

"**But what?" asked Kyuubi.**

"Theres nobody who could train me. I'm miles from civilization, what are the odds of finding a trainer out here?" Kyuubi let out a long laugh that shook the whole room.

"**Your looking at him." **said Kyuubi along with a laugh.

"Uhhh, what do you mean?" asked Naruto.

"**_I'll_ train you from now on." **answered Kyuubi.

"**I'm your new sensai. I'll start you out at genin level. But as you get stronger, I'll teach you more advanced techniques. I'll train you and train you. Until maybe one day, you'll be as powerful as your dad." **Naruto sat there silent.

"**Hows that sound kit?" **Asked Kyuubi.

"You would train me?" asked Naruto.

"**Yup." **said the fox.

"Well, I guess that would be nice." said Naruto.

"**Good then." **said Kyuubi.

"**We won't start right away. I'll wait until you've gotten settled down somewhere. Somewhere where the leaf village will never find you." **Naruto nodded.

"**Now then, I think its best you go back to sleep." **Said Kyuubi.

"**Got a long road ahead of you."** With that, naruto started to walk away. He was about to reach the door, suddenly, a thought stopped him. It was something he simply couldn't get off his chest.

"Wait, Kyuubi." said Naruto.

"**Yeah Naruto?" **Asked Kyuubi.

"Theres something I want to ask you."

"**Shoot."**

"Well," said Naruto.

"It was earlier today, when I was talking to Iruka."

"**What about him?" **asked Kyuubi.

"It was something I said to him. Basically, I said I hated him." Naruto sat down next to Kyuubi.

"Whats weird, is that I didn't want to say that. I don't know why I said it, but I just did."

"**Oh... About that." **said Kyuubi.

"what?" asked Naruto.

"**Naruto, while you had my chakra active, you were in deep rage. Enraged enough to kill. And when Iruka caught up to you, your anger sky rocketed. But even though you were angry at him, I could see it in your mind. You still cared about him. You Didn't have it in you to tell him how you truly felt. So I forced more anger, more rage into you. Until you finally snapped of anger. And you hollered those words right in his face." **Naruto stared at the fox with confusion.

"**Basically, I forced those words right out of you Naruto." **Naruto stood up before asking.

"W- why?" asked Naruto.

"**I thought, why would Iruka care about you if he knew you hated him?" **Kyuubi explained.

"**I made him see that you didn't need him anymore. That he was nothing to you. And him knowing that, why would he bother to come looking for you?" **Naruto seemed to afraid to ask the next question, but he asked it anyway.

"So, what your saying now is... Iruka, hates me now?"

"**Most likely." **said Kyuubi.

"But- but I could have just gotten away from him." he added.

"**Yes, but he would still be determined to find you." **said Kyuubi.

"**And they would catch you again."**

"Well I would rather prefer that then just break his heart with all the hate _you _forced through me!" naruto yelled. Naruto's legs begun to wobble. Until he eventually fell back down.

"Now thanks to you, the only person that ever cared about me hates me now!" Naruto yelled again, his eyes beginning to fill with tears.

"**Kit listen to me." **said Kyuubi in a much softer voice.

"**I know its hard, but sometimes, to get things in life, you have to sacrifice a few things." **Kyuubi's long tail snaked over and relaxed itself around Naruto's shoulders.

"**Even if its something you care about the most. Like Iruka." **Naruto sniffled.

"What (sniff) do you know about caring?" naruto said with a harder tone.

"**Not much," **answered Kyuubi in a somewhat sad volume.

"**Consider yourself lucky your not like me. We demons have nothing to care for in life but our own hides." **Naruto sniffled again.

"Doesn't make any difference." said Naruto, tears now streaming down his face.

"Nobody cares about me anymore." With that, naruto laid his head into his arms and begun crying.

"**Now Naruto, don't cry." **said Kyuubi. Kyuubi pulled Naruto in next to him and wrapped his arm around the little boy.

"**There there." **Kyuubi said in a soft tone as he stroked the boys back. Naruto cried into Kyuubi's fur for a few more minutes, until Kyuubi picked naruto up off the ground with his tail and placed him down in front of him.

"**Naruto," **said Kyuubi.

"**I just need you to look at me for a few seconds." **Naruto wiped his tears on his arm, then lifted his head up and looked back at the fox.

"**You need rest." **said the fox. A few seconds later, the fox's eyes begun dimly glow with a red hue. But within a second, his eyes almost seemed to light up the room. Naruto stared into the fox's eyes, unable to look away.

"**_Sleep Naruto." _**said the fox, his voice lined with a hypnotic rhythm to it. Almost instantly, Naruto's eyes closed and he fell asleep. Kyuubi formed a bed out of his tails and slowly placed Naruto in it. Kyuubi's tail coiled itself around Naruto a couple times to keep him warm. After Naruto was nice and snuggly in his bed of fur, Kyuubi laid his head down next to Naruto's and went to sleep as well.

The next morning...

The sleeping juitsu had finally worn off, so Naruto slowly begun to wake up. He no longer felt the warmth and comfort of kyuubi's tails. He sat up to find himself back in his sleeping bag. He was back in the woods. The remains of his fire sat a few feet away from him. Naruto Yawned as he crawled out from under the roots of the tree. He scanned the area. The ground was still covered in a layer of snow, and there was not a ninja in sight. As Naruto observed the woods, a familiar voice suddenly popped up in his head.

"**Its alright kit, its just me." **said kyuubi's voice in his mind.

"**I'll be talking to you like this so you don't have to be asleep to." **Naruto nodded.

"**Now then, I know your still sad, but we have to focus on the road. So get packed up and ready to leave."**

"_Will do." _Said Naruto. A few mintues later, Naruto's pack was nice and neatly filled with his stuff, and the remains of his campsite were disposed of.

"_Where should we go?" _Asked Naruto.

"**It doesn't matter." **answered Kyuubi.

"**As long as its away from the leaf village, then its fine by me." **With that, Naruto left his campsite and begun his long journey yet again.

The next few days was nothing but walking for Naruto. It had been at least another 3 days since he met Kyuubi. All together, a whole week had passed since he had left the village. It was night time yet again. Naruto had already set up his fire and sleeping bag. Naruto stared into the fire as its flames danced in the night, lighting up a good portion of the camp. His mind was buried in thought recently. Not about the ninja, or the weather. What he was worried about, was how much longer could he keep this up? He had been walking for a whole week nonstop. It was nice to see the outdoors and experience nature, but its not something he wanted to do forever.

"Sooner or later, I need to find somewhere to live." he said to himself.

"**Don't worry kit." **Said Kyuubi.

"**You'll find a place soon enough, trust me." **Naruto smiled.

"_I guess your right." _Naruto said in his mind. With that. Naruto crawled into his sleeping bag and went to sleep.

The next morning wasn't just cold, is was a freaking blizzard. The wind howled through the trees as it blew over the ground. Naruto trenched through the now building snow, wrapped in a large hooded cloak. As the wind blew, it sent snow flakes flying right into his face, giving him a hard time seeing. Despite the wind or snow, the 7 year old boy pressed onward. About an hour later, he came up to two paths. Which way should he take? Left? Or right?

"hmm..." Naruto thought.

"I'll guess this wa-" before he could finish, something to his left caught his eye. Near the left path lay something that looked like a square suspended in the air on something. Naruto examined it for a few moments. It was a square alright. And by the looks of it, it was nailed to something behind it. Suddenly, the answer came up in Naruto's mind, it was a sign. And the only reason for a sign to be on a trail was to point people in the right direction, or tell how many miles they got left till their destination. And directions was what Naruto had needed for the past few days.

"This must be a road." Naruto said excitedly to himself. The front of the sign was covered with snow, but he could make out the outline of it. He walked up to the sign, reached up and begun to brush the snow away. After a minute or so, the sign was nice and clean. The sign red.

"MOSSFLOWER WOODS"

"Mossflower woods?" Naruto pondered.

"What kind of name is that?" Naruto eyed more words on the bottom of the sign. They red.

"REDWALL, 30 MILES" along with an arrow pointing down the path.

-------

"**Redwall?" **asked Kyuubi.

"Whats Redwall?" asked Naruto.

"**Beats me. A wall painted red or something?"**

"Maybe." said Naruto

"And besides," he added.

"Who in the right mind would walk 30 miles just to see a red wall?"

"**Maybe the natives here are athletic freaks." **Kyuubi answered.

"You'd have to be one to walk that distance." said Naruto.

"But whats the harm? Even though its a weird name, Mossflower sounds like a nice place." Kyuubi thought for a moment.

"**I suppose so." **said Kyuubi.

"Yeah, and maybe we can find a town on the way." Naruto added.

"Or maybe more info on this Redwall thing." With that, Naruto followed the trail leading to into Mossflower. An hour or two later, Naruto begun to notice drastic changes around him. The woods begun losing its thickness. Eventually, only a handful of tress and bushes lined the side of the trail. The blizzard had finally ceased, making easier for him to navigate. By the look of things, he had completely crossed over into Mossflower. The next few hours were much easier on Naruto. Less trees meant a much smoother path. After days of endless snow, it was finally at rest. The snow had gone back down low enough for his feet to touch the ground for the first time in days. Naruto continued walking, his backpack at his back, and his head covered with his hooded cloak. Naruto moved for about another ten minutes. Until he came to a sudden stop.

"**What is it?" **asked Kyuubi.

"I... I don't know." answered Naruto.

"Something just... well... doesn't feel right."

"**Whats not right?" **Kyuubi asked again.

"Its just a feeling I keep having." said Naruto.

"I don't know how to explain it. I'm sure its nothing." Naruto went back to walking, the feeling still bothering Naruto. About half an hour later, Naruto's stomach suddenly started growling of hunger. So he set up a little fire, pulled out his cooking pot, and a pack of ramen. He melted some snow into the pot, heated it up, then started cooking his ramen. Minutes later, he was gulping down some nice warm ramen. Every single noodle that went down his throat sent a pleasant warm wave through his body, which for a few seconds felt like heaven due to the cold. But then out of nowhere, that feeling returned to him, but his time, it was stronger.

"**That feeling again?" **asked Kyuubi.

"Yeah." answered Naruto.

"**Let me see." **Kyuubi quickly observed Naruto's mind for a few seconds.

"**Hmmm..." **Kyuubi thought.

"What is it?" asked Naruto.

"**One of your fox senses is going off."** he answered.

"Fox senses?" Asked Naruto.

"**I'll explain later." **said Kyuubi.

"**But by the looks of it, its telling you somethings close." **

"What do you mean by 'close'?" asked Naruto, now starting to sound a bit uneasy.

"**I'd hate to break it to you kit," **said Kyuubi.

"**I don't think we're alone." **A shiver went down Naruto's spine. Not of cold, but of fear.

"**I think we should go." **said Kyuubi. But as Naruto went to get his pack, another feeling swept over him. This one was different, but much more frighting. It was that feeling of having a pair of eyes on you. That feeling of being watched. Naruto gulped.

"H- hello?" he called out, now beginning to shake all over.

"Anybody there?" No answer. To his left, he heard a sudden snap of a twig. He jumped in the direction of the sound. There was nothing there. He heard another sound to his right. He spun back around and looked all over the place.

"Whose there?" naruto asked again. Still no answer. Out in front of him about a few hundreds yards away. He saw a shadowy figure hiding behind a tree, watching him. Naruto's eyes widened in horror. He threw his pack onto his back and begun to run. He looked behind him constantly. And to his horror, he saw the figure darting through the trees, going about as fast as he was.

"Go away!" Naruto yelled as he continued running.

"Stop following me!" A few moments later, he looked back, but he didn't see the figure anymore. Did he or she or whatever listen to him? But Naruto was to late to even think about it. At the last second, he felt the ground give way beneath him. He fell in, and was greeted with a freezing shock of cold. He had walked over thin ice. Naruto instantly begun splashing and kicking like crazy.

"HELP ME!" he screamed as he struggled to breath in the deathly cold water.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Before he could scream anymore, he strength in his arms and legs left him. He begun sinking. Naruto felt himself be dragged down by the water's cold grip as he continued to sink. But then before he knew, he felt something grip tightly onto his arm, and pull him up. He gasped for air as he broke the surface of the water. An arm grabbed him by the waste and pulled him out of the water. Instantly his whole body was shivering and an uncontrollable rate. His eyes were closed, and his teeth chattered. A moment later, he was suddenly wrapped in a warm blanket and placed on the ground. Another minute later, he felt the warm atmosphere of a fire brush against him. He felt himself grow warmer and warmer as he sat next to the fire built by his rescuer. Eventually, Naruto slowly sat himself up.

"You alright?" a feminine voice suddenly asked.

"I-I-I think s-s-so." answered Naruto between shivers, not even bothering to open his eyes to see his savior.

"Here." the stranger said again.

"drink this." Naruto opened his eyes to see a small brown cup of a steaming substance. Naruto slowly took it and gulped down the warm liquid.

"That'll warm you up." She was true to her word. Drinking the drink felt like being in a spa it was so warm.

"T-thank you." Naruto said.

"Don't mention it." said the voice.

"Now tell me, how did something like you get trapped in the ice?" Naruto turned toward the voice and started to open his eyes before saying.

"Well you see, I was being followed by someb-" Naruto's vision was blurred, but while he looked at the blurry image of his savior, he noticed something weird about her. Was he seeing colors? Cause the women seemed to be covered in brown. Naruto rubbed his eyes and got a better look. He froze at what he saw. His eyes didn't lie to him. The whole women's body was a reddish brown! But wait. On her body. That wasn't skin, it was a slim coat of fur! It's face looked almost human, but it had a slightly pointed mouth, a black nose, and two black eyes. Naruto rubbed his eyes again and took a second look. But it was all the same. He saw something swish behind her. It was a big fluffy like thing that looked longer than he was. On closer inspection, it was a tail. Naruto stared at the women thing for a few more moments. He recognized most of it's features. Like it's tail, eyes, and hunched legs. He suddenly what else he had seen these features on. But could it be? All it's features matched what he was thing about. There was no mistake. In front of him sat not a human, but a large, brown, furry, humanoid squirrel!


	5. New friend

Naruto starred at the squirrel thing for what seemed like an eternity. It was just so unbelievable. Was Naruto going crazy? No. It was a real, living breathing human-like squirrel. It's fur, pointed ears, body and all were all too real, even for a crazy guy. And sure he was use to talking wolfs like Kuromaru. But this was no wolf, nor even a dog. And it isn't everyday that a dog is giant and walks on two legs.

"Ummm, something wrong?" the squirrel asked, noticing Naruto's dumbstruck face.

"Y- y your- a- a-" Naruto tried to answer, but his shock wouldn't let him.

"That ice give you a cold?" she asked again. The squirrel reached out and placed her hand on Naruto's forehead.

"You have a fever?"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Naruto screamed as he batted her hand away. He jumped up onto his feet and begun hightailing it.

"HEY!" she called after him. She got up and ran after him

"What did I do?"

"GO AWAY!" Naruto yelled back.

"You- you- squirrel thing!" To his left lay an uprooted tree. It's rooted formed a miniature cave like thing. Naruto ran and slid under it.

"Come on little guy." said the squirrel as she knelt down next to the stump.

"I wasn't gonna hurt ya'. In fact, I saved your life just now." She got down on her hands to see the boy huddled against the wall of the stump.

"Go away." Naruto whimpered. The squirrel was confused. She saved him, and he freaks out from it? She decided to try a more gentle approach.

"Why would I hurt a little kid like you?" she asked.

"If I was gonna, I would have by now." She slowly reached her hand in toward the boy.

"There there." she said in a gentle voice. Naruto froze as he felt her hand on his cheek. To Naruto's surprise, her hand was warm, and her fur was nice and smooth against his skin. Naruto kinda enjoyed that feeling. He slowly looked up at the squirrel, to see she had a warm smile on her face.

"It's alright." she said again. She reached in with her other hand and gripped him by his waist and gently pulled him out.

"Just calm down." she set him down on a nearby log then sat down next to him.

"Now, why is someone as young as you doing out here alone?" naruto was a bit hesitant.

"Need help getting back home?"

"Well..." Naruto started.

"Not exactly." Naruto shifted a bit as he continued.

"In fact, home is the one thing I _don't _wanna go back to." The squirrel shot him a confused look.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Lets just say I wasn't ever accepted that much." he answered.

"Your own home didn't like you?" she asked, her voice drawing in more confusion.

"Yeah." Naruto said with a bit of sadness.

"So, I ran away."

"Why did they not like you?" she asked again. Naruto thought for a moment. Probably wasn't the best idea telling her about Kyuubi.

"Its hard to explain." he answered. The squirrel's gaze was flooded with confusion. Why would a little boy be disliked by his own home? Being confused and all, she said.

"Well, if thats what you say." a small smile formed on naruto's lips.

"Now, I don't think we've been fully introduced yet. Said the squirrel.

"You have a name?"

"Naruto." Naruto answered.

"Well its a pleasure to meet you Naruto." she said as she stuck out her hand to him.

"I'm Jess."

"Nice to meet you too." Naruto said as he shook her hand.

"I'm a squirrel as you can see, and resident of Redwall."

"Wait..." Said Naruto, remembering the word from the sign.

"Did you just say Redwall?"

"Yes." Jess said with a nod.

"Its where I live. I was on my way back from another town when I saw you."

"So you were the one following me?" asked Naruto

"Yes." answered Jess.

"I didn't know what you were, so I decided to try and get a better look at ya' without scaring you."

"well thats what you kinda did." said Naruto.

"Sorry about that." Jess apologized.

"Oh and that reminds me."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"What creature are you suppose to be?" asked Jess.

"Creature?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, you don't look like anything I've ever seen." Jess continued.

"You couldn't be a mouse, shrew, or mole or anything like that."

"I'm not a creature." said Naruto.

"Well what are you then?" asked Jess.

"well, I'm a..." before he could finish, Jess suddenly cut him off."

"Wait." she said.

"Your not any creature I know of, so..." she thought for a moment before continuing.

"Are you..." she started.

"...human?"

"Yes." Naruto answered. Jess was a bit stunned, considering shes never seen a human before.

"What are you doing on these parts?" Jess asked.

"Humans don't live around here."

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked.

"Well the only things that live here are mice, moles, shrews, rats-" she was stopped by Naruto.

"Wait, your saying this whole place is nothing but animals?"

"If thats a human's name for us then yes." Answered Jess. Naruto didn't know if he was going insane or was just messed up by the water after hearing that.

"What is this place???" Naruto asked.

"A giant zoo???"

"Whats a zoo?" asked Jess.

"You've never heard of a zoo?" asked Naruto.

"Not really." answered Jess.

"Well, its something your kind wouldn't like that much." said Naruto.

"Then I guess its better left unsaid." said Jess. Naruto agreed.

"But anyway, don't you think its unsafe for you to be traveling alone?" asked Jess.

"Well I does get kinda scary," said naruto.

"But I've grown use to it. I've been walking alone for a whole week now."

"A whole week?" asked Jess, sounding amazed.

"You alone for a week?"

"Yeah." said naruto.

"That does sound scary." Jess added. A sudden question came to naruto's mind.

"So, about this Redwall place." Naruto said.

"Is it a nice place?"

"Of course it is." said Jess.

"The nicest and friendliest in Mossflower."

"I grew up near Redwall. When I got older, I decided to move in. Why ask?"

"Oh nothing really," said Naruto.

"Just curious."

"Theres always a reason for something." said Jess.

"well..." said Naruto.

"I've been walking for a long time, and, well, I've been kinda looking forward to finding a place to settle down in.

"You mean you need a place to stay?" asked Jess.

"Yeah mostly." answered Naruto. Jess thought for a moment.

"I know," she said suddenly.

"Why don't you come back with me to Redwall?" It was as if Jess had said the magic word to Naruto.

"Me? Come back with you?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah." said Jess with a smile.

"As I said, its a nice place. I'm sure they'd all be kind enough to let you stay." Naruto pondered on it for a moment. Was it safe to relax now? Would the ninja be able to find him again?

"Well..." Naruto said as he thought. It was true the ninja could find him again, but what were the odds? He had long lost them. No, how could they ever find him now? Naruto had come to a decision. He looked Jess in the eyes and said.

"Yes, I would love to." Jess smiled.

"Alright then." said Jess.

"Before we leave, lets get your stuff nice and dry first." With that, the two walked back to the fire where Naruto's stuff sat. Twenty minutes later, The fire had completely dried Naruto's things. After gathering his things, Jess put out the fire and covered the wood with snow.

"So how longs is it to Redwall?" asked Naruto.

"About a few days walk." said Jess.

"Don't worry, It'll pass in no time." That being said, Jess walked forward a few feet, then she signaled for Naruto.

"Come on Naruto." Jess called.

"Lets head out." Naruto hurried to his new companion's side, and the pair begun walking until they eventually vanished under the cover of the snow and wind.


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto and Jess spent the rest of the day walking through the dense snow. For most of the trip, they were silent. They would constantly throw around little conversations, but after that, the only sound to be heard was the soft howling of the winter wind as it swept over the land. At first, Naruto wasn't so sure about traveling with Jess. Considering she was a giant human like squirrel. And he barely knew her for even a day. Like all parents say to their kids, never talk to strangers. But she saved his life and offered him a new home. Even though she was a stranger, she was very kind and generous. Not only that but he finally had some company besides Kyuubi. So yes. Being with Jess wasn't much of a bad idea. Throughout the day, Jess told Naruto all about Redwall. Most of the people she knew, the beautiful forest surrounding it, and the thing that sparked Naruto's interest, how wonderful the food was. Just thinking of _real _food besides his ramen packs made his mouth water with hunger. Jess also told Naruto about all the creatures that lived around Mossflower. They included mice, shrews, moles, badgers, squirrels, otters and etc. These were all the good or neutral creatures of the land. But on the other side of the list, came the _not _so good creatures. These would be mostly rats, weasels, lizards, snakes, foxes and etc. The part about the foxes somewhat angered Kyuubi, considering he was a fox.

"**What?!" **snarled Kyuubi.

"**What'd foxes ever do to these people??" **His tantrum lasted only a few moments, but Naruto could still feel his anger, which only made Naruto laugh slightly. As time went on, the day begun to slowly darken. Their line of visible decreased with every hour. Eventually it was to dark to travel, so they decided to set up camp. Although the cold still hung in the air and the snow covered the ground, the clouds had cleared away that night. Revealing behind them a sky sparking with stars. Jess was out getting some more fire wood, while Naruto was preparing some ramen. The ramen packs had managed to survive the water due to their plastic coverings, so he at least still had food. Right as he added the flavoring, Jess arrived with the fire wood.

"I'm back Naruto." Jess announced as she set the wood down next to a tree. She had settled down next to Naruto when she noticed the ramen.

"Whats that stuff?" asked Jess.

"This is ramen." Naruto answered.

"Its a food I used to eat a lot back in my village," he poured it into a bowl and offered it to Jess.

"Want some?"

"Alright." said Jess as she took the bowl. She inspected it for a few moments. After taking a few whiffs of its steaming aroma, she took a sip.

"This is pretty good." said Jess along with a lick across her lips to get the rest of it.

"I know." said Naruto as he took a slurp out of his own bowl. A few minutes later, both of them had completely consumed their ramen.

"That was real good." said Jess as she relaxed near the fire.

"Got any more for tomorrow?" Naruto begun scavenging his pack for a little bit, only to realize he couldn't find any.

"Oh no." groaned Naruto. He dug a little deeper searched ever corner of the bag. He even stuck his head in there for a few seconds. But there was none to be found.

"That was all I had."

"You mean thats all the food you had?" asked Jess.

"Yeah." Naruto answered.

"What are we suppose to eat?" Jess thought for a moment.

"I guess we'll find food on the way." said Jess. A moment later, she suddenly let out a long yawn.

"But for now, I think its best to get some sleep." Naruto pulled out his sleeping bag and crawled into it, while Jess laid down next to him in the grass.

"Oh and just for some extra warmth." said Jess as she begun to undo her vest. She slipped it off her shoulders and placed it over Naruto. To Naruto surprise, her vest was nice and warm. And was nice and soft against his skin.

"Thanks Jess." said Naruto.

"Don't mention it." said Jess with a smile.

"Good night Naruto." With that, they both went to sleep

Naruto awoke suddenly. The soft feeling of the grass and wind had suddenly vanished. He looked to his side to realize Jess was no longer next to him. Naruto shot up and looked around. He instantly recognized the place after seeing the towering pair of barred gates looming over him.

"Kyuubi?" Naruto called out.

"**Over here kit." **answered a familiar voice. Naruto looked to his right to see the giant fox sitting a few feet away from him.

"**Just wanted to talk." **

"'bout what?" asked Naruto.

"**Just chit chat for a bit, thats all." **answered Kyuubi. Naruto relaxed next to Kyuubi.

"**So," **Kyuubi started.

"**I see you made a new friend." **Naruto nodded.

"Yep." said Naruto in a happy tone.

"Not only did she save me, but shes taking me to Redwall. I'll finally have a new home!"

"**Yeah about this Redwall place." **said Kyuubi.

"What about it?" asked Naruto.

"Jess said it was a very nice place, I don't see anything wrong with it."

"**I know I heard her." **said Kyuubi.

"**I just wasn't very comfortable with you settling down at first, but we haven't seen a sign of the ninja in days. So I don't thing theres anything wrong with it." **Kyuubi shifted slightly.

"**Just wanted to tell you how the ninja training is gonna work since we're not gonna be on the road for much longer."**

"Alright then, fire away." said Naruto as sank into a more focused position.

"**As I said, I'm not gonna train you to fast," **Kyuubi explained.

"**That would just take all the fun out of it. As you get older, I'll train you more advanced techniques and tactics. And with your senses and instincts, It should be pretty easy."**

"Instincts?" asked Naruto slightly confused.

"**Oh yeah, this is what I was talking about earlier." **said kyuubi.

"**When I was sealed inside you, some of my instincts and such were infused into you, making you more fox like, even though you were born a human." **Naruto soaked all the information in.

"**And since the juitsu I teach are more of the fox kind, you shouldn't have a problem learning them." **

"Fox juitsu huh?" said Naruto.

"That sounds pretty cool." Kyuubi chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm.

"**Yeah it is." **said Kyuubi.

"**Oh and another thing." **he added suddenly.

"**I've noticed some rather... _sad _thoughts going on in your head lately." **Naruto's happy expression suddenly melted away.

"**Tell me, you still thinking about... well... you know." **Naruto knew exactly who he was talking about. Iruka. The thoughts of Iruka still clung to Naruto's mind. Naruto sighed as he laid against Kyuubi's side.

"Somewhat." he answered softly.

"**Naruto," **said Kyuubi.

"**I know its hard, but you need to just forget him. He doesn't care about you anymore anyway."**

"Only because _you _made it that way." Naruto said in a sudden hard tone.

"**Yeah I know," **said Kyuubi, sounding a bit annoyed by that statement.

"**But he and the village are just a forgotten memory now." **Kyuubi started to feel sadness growing in Naruto.

"**And besides," **he added.

"**Maybe he doesn't like you _not _because I made him, but what if he never did?" **Naruto looked at him with confusion.

"**What if he nor the hokage ever liked you from the start? And if they did, don't you think they would protect you from the village instead of sitting back while you suffer?" **That part was what caught Naruto's attention.

"**And you said it yourself. In fact, you screamed it in Iruka's face. And that part I _didn't _make you say." **Naruto cringed after thinking back to that.

"Well..." said Naruto.

"I was angry, and-" he was cut off by Kyuubi.

"**And you were telling him how it was." **Kyuubi interrupted.

"**You told him how ashamed he and the hokage should be. Just letting you get hurt and made fun of, and do nothing about it. Even to a fox like me thats cold hearted." **Kyuubi's words were to true. The hokage and Iruka had never looked out for him that much. They may had been nice to him and all, but were they ever there when the villagers were on him? No. Kyuubi was being true, but Naruto couldn't help but to disagree.

"But they showed me respect." said Naruto.

"If they hated me, they would probably be like the villagers. And why would the hokage even bother sending the ninja to bring me back if he hated me?" Kyuubi thought about that.

"**Probably just scared you would fall into the wrong hands." **said Kyuubi.

"**But they don't need to worry, your in _good _hands now." **That knowledge managed to brighten up Naruto's mood a bit.

"**Speaking of which, this Jess person is a rather nice creature." **Naruto was quick to agree.

"Of course she is." said Naruto.

"She saved my life, and is pretty much the first friend I ever had."

"**I know." **said Kyuubi.

"**I didn't sense any chakra signatures on her, so she couldn't be one of the ninja using a transformation juitsu. I'd say she checks out, and I say you should stick with her from now on." **Naruto jumped right into it.

"Damn right I will." exclaimed Naruto. Kyuubi laughed.

"**All that being said, I think its time to get some shuteye." **Kyuubi said with a rumbling yawn. Naruto slumped down against Kyuubi's warm furry and belly and closed his eyes. Kyuubi wrapped a few tails around Naruto for warmth, then went to sleep right beside him.

Jess felt the cool morning breeze brush over her and awoke. It was a cloudy morning, but by the looks of it, the snowy part of winter was now finally put to rest, for now at least. Jess outstretched her arms and yawned as she soaked in the new day. To her side, lay Naruto. Still asleep in his sleeping bag. Jess gently shook the boy. As he begun to stir, Jess removed her vest from atop him and slipped back into it. Naruto shivered as a sudden burst of cold enveloped him.

"mmmmm," he mumbled.

"Its cold." Jess couldn't help but to giggle.

"I know, its ghastly cold this morning." said Jess.

"But I doesn't matter, we've got to get moving." Naruto groaned as he lifted himself out of the comfort of his pillow.

"This early?" he asked half asleep.

"Thats right." said Jess, now starting to sound more like an army officer, yet still had that friendly tone.

"The sooner we get moving the better."

"Oh ok." groaned Naruto as he slowly stood up. After that, they packed up all their things, disposed of the fire wood, then they were back on the trail. Like the previous day, they were quite most of the time. About a few hours into the day, Naruto asked.

"So Jess, what do you like to do?"

"What do I like to do?" Asked Jess.

"Yeah. You know like reading, playing around and stuff like that."

"Oh you mean hobbies?" said Jess.

"Yeah I guess so." said Naruto.

"Well..." said Jess as she traveled into thought.

"...I have lots of things. But the thing I find the most fun, is climbing."

"Climbing?" asked Naruto.

"Thats right." said Jess.

"Its very exciting, has great views, and keeps me in shape." The last part about keeping in shape was no surprise to Naruto. Jess was so slim and nimble. And remembering back to the day they meet when she was chasing him through the woods, she was fast too.

"Not to be a show off," Jess continued.

"but I'm considered the champion climber of Redwall, impressive huh?"

"Whoa, that is impressive." said Naruto, who was truly amazed by that. Jess looked around for a few moment, when she turned to Naruto and said.

"Wanna see why they call me that?" Her eyes fell upon a large tree to their left. It looked to be around 100 feet tall as it loomed over them. Branches jutted out from many points on the tree like big bony hands. As Naruto looked back at Jess, he couldn't help but notice a weird look in her eye. What was she thinking?

"Follow me." said Jess as she begun to approach the tree.

"What are you doing?" asked Naruto. Instead of an answer, Jess crouched onto her hands and knees.

"Hop on." she said as she gestured to her back. Naruto was a bit confused. Did she just ask him to just get on her back? What was she, a horse?

"Why?" asked Naruto.

"You'll see." Jess said behind a wolfish grin. Naruto was a bit hesitant, and kinda nervous. But soon enough, he slowly walked forward and hoisted himself onto her back. Jess slowly stood back up, making sure Naruto was nice and secure. Then she got herself a grip on a branch. Then she placed her foot on the tree. Then the other foot. She reached up and grabbed another branch, pulling them up even higher off the ground. A burst of fear filled Naruto as they begun to ascend further and further away from the ground.

"What are we doing?" asked Naruto, sounding very scared. All Jess said was.

"Hold on." Naruto wrapped his arms tightly around Jess's neck as he clung himself tightly to her back. He squeezed his eyes shut and held on tight. Jess rose higher and higher into the tree. No matter how high they went, Jess didn't break a sweat. She was more like a machine rather than a squirrel. After a few minutes, Naruto forced himself to open his eyes and look down. The snow covered ground seemed like a nothing but a large thin blanket. The bushes and small trees were like green dots of paint on paper. Naruto snapped his eyes shut and tightened his grip on Jess's neck to the point where he was slightly strangling her.

"Is it over?" Naruto whimpered.

"Almost," answered Jess.

"just hang on for a little bit longer." Naruto did the best he could to ignore the fact that he was almost 100 feet in the air. But the cold wind blowing in his face and with the lack of the ground under his feet, it was almost impossible. A few minutes later, Jess came to a sudden stop. Naruto felt Jess rest herself on a somewhat flat surface.

"You can get off now." said Jess. Unfortunately, Naruto was far to scared to even move.

"Naruto open your eyes." Naruto slowly looked back down to see a large thick branch under him.

"See?" said Jess.

"Its alright, just slowly slip off." Naruto with every nerve and every gut he had, slowly creped down Jess's back until the tip of his toe touched the branch. He put his other foot on the branch, then released his grip on Jess. It was good to be walking again, but Naruto almost forgot. He wasn't on the ground anymore, he was dozens of feet in the air now. The thought of it made his legs wobble. He quickly laid down on his stomach and wrapped his arms and legs around the branch while he quivered and whimpered.

"Naruto," said Jess as she slowly pulled Naruto off the branch.

"Calm down, your not gonna fall, not while I'm around." She relaxed herself against the trees massive trunk and set Naruto down on her lap. Naruto had once again shut his eyes.

"Take a look Naruto." said Jess.

"You might wanna see this." Naruto opened his eyes and looked out in front of him. He was blinded for a few moments by the sun. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he was greeted by one of the most beautiful sights of all. In front of him lay a massive stretch of land that seemed to go on forever. Trees and other vegetation looked like nothing more than big clumps of green. To finish it all off, the orange evening sun casted its light over everything, giving off enough light to see for miles. Naruto was mesmerized by the beauty of the landscape. It was almost like staring into a painting. Jess smiled at Naruto's amazed expression.

"What'd I tell you?" said Jess.

"Great views."

"You weren't kidding." said Naruto, his eyes still glued to the horizon. Jess was also amused by Naruto sudden loss of fear. It was like he had forgotten that he was even in the tree.

"No wonder you like climbing so much." said Naruto.

"Yes, no wonder." Jess added.

"And to think, you were scared stiff a few minutes ago, and now your enjoying yourself."

"Yeah it was scary going up." said Naruto.

"But being up here now, I'd say climbing is actually tons of fun." Jess couldn't agree more.

"Could we do it again some time?" Naruto asked.

"Of course we can." said Jess with delight.

"Maybe I could teach you how to climb yourself. Would you like that?"

"That sounds great!" said Naruto with a smile. Jess laughed.

"Well then that being said," she said.

"I think we should get down now. Its gonna get dark soon, so its best we set up camp." Naruto agreed. So he crawled back onto her back and they begun to make their descent. Within a few minutes, Jess touched down on the soft snow. Naruto slipped off her back. It felt like a breath of fresh air to be on solid ground again. The two continued walking. About an hour later, the sky begun to darken. The sun slowly sank back down behind the horizon, letting the moon take its place. After they set up camp, they both sat together within the warmth and brightness of their fire as it illuminated the night.

"Say Jess." said Naruto between a few chills.

"Yes Naruto?" Jess answered.

"I just wanted to say, thanks for the climb, it was fun."

"Anytime." said Jess with a warm smile.

"I thought I'd never get over my fear of heights," said Naruto.

"Until you came along and helped me face it." Jess chuckled.

"Wasn't much." said Jess

"Just wanted to show you a good time." Naruto smiled.

"Also, I never got to say this." Naruto said.

"I'm all ears." said Jess.

"Thanks for saving me, for saving my life. Thanks for bringing me along with you." Jess could hear a hint of emotion building in Naruto's voice.

"If it wasn't you and just another villager from my village, I'd be dead now." Naruto cringed at the thought of the village.

"He would laugh, he would enjoy watching me drown. Same with the rest of the villagers." Naruto shifted slightly to where he was facing Jess.

"But your not one of them. Your nothing like them." Naruto sniffled softly.

"Your the only person whose ever respected me. Even if I'm a human and your a squirrel, it doesn't change anything." Sadness begun swelling up in Naruto as he continued.

"And the funny thing is, I've barely known you for two days. The village on the other hand. I've lived their my whole life. Every single second of it. (sniff) and you know what?" Jess spotted a tear streaming down Naruto's cheek.

"Every thing was all the same. I was hated every second I was alive. And it was all for nothing." Tears had begun pouring down the boy's face.

"I never did anything to them! All my life I tried to fit in, but now matter what I say or do, those villagers- no. Not villagers. Those _monsters _never gave a damn about me!" Naruto couldn't hold it in anymore. He buried his face into his arm and begun crying allover himself. As Naruto cried, Jess sat there, almost speechless. She had never seen anything or anyone who seemed as miserable as Naruto. And to think, his own village hated him. Not one or two people, but his _entire _village was against him. They _were _truly monsters.

"I know what your thinking." said Naruto as he whipped away a few tears.

"Why can't my mom and dad do anything about it? Why don't they help?" Jess actually never thought about that.

"Well, that _could _have been possible..." Jess kept listening.

"... If I had a mom and dad." Jess halfway didn't believe it. _If _he had a mom and dad?

"Your an orphan?" asked Jess, trying her best not to hurt him with the fact.

"Yes." Naruto answered softly.

"I have no clue what its like to have a family. Nor what it feels like to be loved, to have friends, to have anything." Jess had never felt so sorry for anything in her life, until now. As Naruto cried, he suddenly felt Jess's arms around him.

"Here." he heard Jess say.

"I'll show you what its like." Jess pulled Naruto over and wrapped him up in a warm hug.

"Shhhhhhhh." she said softly as Naruto wailed into her chest.

"Your a sweet, graceful boy Naruto. They have no right to do what they did to you." Jess continued to hold Naruto. Her fur felt like a soft warm blanket against Naruto's skin. But it wasn't the fur that Naruto enjoyed, but the fact that this was a _real _hug. Not a small occasional hug from the hokage or Iruka, but a warm loving hug, coming from someone besides them. Naruto loved it so much. He never wanted it to end.

"I don't understand," said Jess.

"How could they hate someone as nice and lovable as you? Its unspeakable." Naruto cried and cried until his tears had soaked Jess's fur. After a few minutes, Jess laid out Naruto's sleeping bag and slid him in it.

"There there young one." Said Jess as she stroked Naruto's cheek.

"Cast away the memories of your old life. Think of the possibilities of your soon to be new life, in Redwall." the thoughts of Redwall helped to calm Naruto down a bit.

"Go to sleep now, if we get up bright and early, we'll be in Redwall by nightfall." With that, Jess laid down along side of Naruto.

"Goodnight." Jess muttered. Eventually she fell asleep, but Naruto on the other hand was wide awake. He had never cried so hard in his life. Having to think of all those memories, all those horrible thoughts were just unbearable for Naruto. His sorrow flowed out of him like a water fall of emotion. As he laid there, a voice suddenly came into his head.

"**Shes right you know." **said the voice of the fox.

**"Your a great kid Naruto. And no matter what those villagers said to you, accused you of. Just remember." **A warm feeling of chakra had begun to build in Naruto's stomach as Kyuubi finished.

"**Its not your fault." **Naruto said nothing back to the fox.

"**Now like Jess said, get some sleep now. Before you know it, you'll be sitting down with your new friends in Redwall." **Naruto felt the burst of a sleeping juitsu go off in his mind. Within seconds, Naruto's eyes shut, and he fell asleep.


	7. Asmodeus

A large gloomy mist hung over Mossflower that cold afternoon. You could almost cut it with a knife it was so thick. It was as if someone had carelessly thrown a giant blanket over the entire forest. Not only that, but it was also deathly cold. Even though the last signs of snow had vanished, the winter air still remained. Everything was quite and still. All life had vanished from Mossflower as it seemed. The only sound to be heard for miles was the foot steps of Naruto and Jess as they walked through the woods. Unlike their other days of travel, they barely spoke. Mostly due to the cold. But the main reason was according to Jess, they would arrive at Redwall by early tomorrow morning. So it was best to keep moving and not to waste time with chat. Instinctively, Naruto would be jumping for joy at the fact. But he didn't seem at all excited. The cold weather had pretty much sucked all the energy clean from his body. The only protecting him from the cold was his hooded cloak. Which barely did anything to warm him up. Jess's fur and vest kept her slightly warm. But her condition was no better than Naruto's. Yes the cold was bad, but wasn't the only thing dragging them down. Another thing, and worst of all, was their own stomachs. It had been days since they had eaten a true meal, not counting the ramen. They had been hungry the whole trip, but now it was really starting to take effect on them. Jess looked to her side and realized Naruto wasn't next to her any more. She looked back to see him a few yards back. His hands were over his stomach, and he had a sickened look on his face.

"Naruto?" asked Jess as she ran back to him.

"Whats wrong?"

"I don't feel so good." Naruto groaned. Jess placed her had on Naruto's forehead.

"Your burning up." Said Jess.

"I think I'm sick." Naruto moaned.

"Maybe." said Jess. Then, a large desperate growl sounded in Naruto's stomach.

"You haven't eaten enough, that's probably why." said Jess

"Lets see if we can find something to eat." With that, Jess begun jogging down the path, her eyes scanning for anything that looked edible. Mossflower was full of edible plants. Finding them would be a breeze in the summer. But in winter, it was hard to come across even a single living plant besides the trees. Jess's eyes suddenly fell upon a small bush to her right. She stopped and got a better look. It was a berry bush. And by the look of the berries, they were nice and ripe.

"These will do." said Jess as she set Naruto down.

"Wait here." Jess started to move walk toward the bush. As she stopped in front of it, a sudden rustling sound suddenly occurred. She looked around for a few moments. There was nothing but Her and Naruto. She went back to the bush, when another sound stopped her. This one sounded closer. Naruto's eyes darted all around the woods for the source of the sounds. Then without a warning, a familiar feeling went off in the boy's mind. The one telling him somebody was near. The only difference was the last one was puny and barely noticeable. This one however made it feel like his head was gonna explode.

"**Someones near." **said Kyuubi's voice.

"**And by the looks of it, he has friends with him." **Jess slowly reached into the bush and felt around a bit. Her hand came across a thin long branch smothered with berries. She gripped it and begun to gently pull. But before she knew it, something cold and hard suddenly slapped her hard on the hand. She yelped with surprise and pain and tore her had out of the bush as if it were an alligator's mouth.

"What the?" she said as she cradled her throbbing hand. Then as quick as a flash, a long thick blade shot out of the bush and stopped a foot from her chest.

"Don't you move!" barked a ragged voice. Out of the bushes around them, stepped a circle of short figures, their blades drawn. Naruto grew scared and ran to Jess's side.

"Stay near me." said Jess. The one wielding the sword stepped out of the bush, allowing Naruto to get a better look at whoever these people were. The first thing he noticed was that they were all barely taller than him. Dark Grey fur coated their face. They all had on unique sets of clothing. But the weirdest thing was their long beak like noses that hung over their mouths.

"You might not know it squirrel," said the one with the sword, obviously the leader. The voice had a slight feminine trace on it. And the clothes she had on were a dark pink, so this one was most likely female.

"This part of the land belongs to us Shrews." She brought the blade closer to Jess's chest.

"And we don't like thieves."

"Wait, you have it all wrong" Said Jess.

"We were just passing by and got a bit hungry so-" she was cut off by the shrew.

"So you decide to steal from us." the shrew spat.

"Its what they always say, why should it be any different coming from you?"

"Please fellow shrew." Jess Begged.

"I apologize for trying to take from your bush, I wouldn't have tried to take from it if I had known otherwise." The shrew stared at her for a while. It was as if she were a lie detector, calculating whether Jess was lying or telling the truth. The shrew suddenly noticed Naruto by Jess's leg.

"Well..." the shrew started as she observed Naruto for a second.

"Its not normal for a thief to carry a young one, and the only thieves we caught here are rats and things like that." She slowly lowered her sword.

"If you weren't planing to take anything, then why are you out here?"

"Its quite simple actually." answered Jess, sounding a bit calmer now that she didn't have a sword in her face.

"Me and my friend her were just making our way to Redwall, you might have heard of it." The shrew thought for a moment.

"Redwallers huh?" she asked. Jess nodded.

"Well then, I guess your no threat to us." A wave of relief rushed over Naruto and Jess as the shrews sheathed their swords.

"But either way, this is our part of the woods, and we don't like strangers either. So what name do you go by?"

"My names Jess." Jess answered.

"Well then Jess, pleasure to meat ya'" said the Shrew.

"The names Guosim, and these are the Guosim Shrews."

"Guosim shrews?" asked Naruto.

"Its the name of our tribe child." Guosim answered.

"And yes, I hold the same name." Jess was no stranger to the Guosim shrews. She had heard alot about them, but she never actually met them since they hid within the woods most of the time.

"Now Jess," said Guosim.

"You said you were hungry right?" It was like Jess had forgotten all about her and Naruto's growling stomachs.

"Oh, yes I did." said Jess.

"We've been without food for a few days, and my friend has become ill from it." Jess knelt down and felt Naruto's head. It was hotter than before.

"The little one is sick?" asked Guosim.

"Yes, he needs food right away." said Jess

"Would you be kind enough to provide him with some?" Guosim thought for a moment.

"Well," said Guosim as she thought.

"If he is really that sick, then maybes its best to feed him."

"That would be swell." said Jess.

"But first." Guosim added. She then pointed to Naruto's hood.

"Why the hood?" Naruto didn't answer.

"Well?" said Guosim as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Hes just a little scared, thats all." said Jess.

"Scared?" asked Guosim, her voice filled with doubt.

"Or is he hidding something? she slowly walked up to Naruto. Naruto turned away, avoiding her gaze

"Remove the hood." Naruto didn't move a muscle

"I said remove it." Naruto's hands slowly moved toward his hood.

"Do I have to?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Scared or not, I must know who you are before I do anything for you." answered Guosim

"Like I said, we don't like strangers." With a soft scared sigh, he slowly pulled his hood back. Yet he still kept his face away from here view.

"Look at me boy." ordered Guosim. With no other option, Naruto turned and faced Guosim. She examined the boy up and down. The first thing to come on her face was confusion. She stared at him for a little longer. Soon her face went from confused, to dumbfounded. The same went for the other shrews as they saw Naruto's face.

"What is he?" one shrew asked.

"He has no fur!" one added.

"He dosn't have a tail either!" Naruto wanted to just disappear.

"Would you all stop?" snapped Jess as she pulled the shaking boy close to her.

"Your scaring him!" The shrews quited down.

"This is Naruto." Jess begun.

"Hes not from around Mossflower."

"Whats he supposed to be?" demanded Guosim, her hand gripping the hilt of her rapier.

"You might not believe me," said Jess.

"But I have no other way to put this." she kept Naruto close as she continued.

"Hes a human." half the shrews including Guosim didn't believe what they just heard.

"Human?" asked a shrew.

"A real human?" Jess nodded.

"Yes, its shocking I know." said Jess.

"But theres no need to be afraid of him, hes only a child." Jess noticed that Guosim seemed to be the only shrew who lacked a shocked expression. In fact, her face was blooming with fascination.

"So, Naruto." said Guosim as she slowly examined Naruto in every detail.

"Is what Jess saying True? Are you truly a human?" After a moment of hesitation, Naruto slowly nodded.

"I never thought humans existed." she added.

"But your living proof of them, so I guess I was wrong." Guosim's hand dropped off her hilt.

"Tell me Jess," said Guosim.

"Where did you come across this boy?"

"Its a long story." said Jess.

"But it doesn't matter right now, Naruto is badly sick. Would you please help him?" A moment later, the shrews huddled up and begun to silently chat among themselves.

"What should we do Guosim?" asked one shrew. Guosim thought for a second.

"Well," said Guosim

"They seem like nice people, and its rare to find thieves in Mossflower, especially in winter." Guosim peeked over her shoulder at them.

"And they don't look so threatening either."

"What about that boy she says is a human?" one shrew stepped in.

"Are you sure its safe to bring him into our camp?" Guosim inspected Naruto again. He was truly odd looking with his skin and all, but didn't look the least bit dangerous.

"I don't see anything wrong with him." said Guosim.

"And besides, it could be a bit fascinating to meet a human." After another moment of silent chatter, the shrews turned back towards Jess.

"Follow us." said Guosim. With a small thankful smile, Jess picked up Naruto and followed the shrews into the woods. Within a few minutes, a dim sound of rushing water filled the air. It got louder with every step they took. Then out of the mist, a large stream came into view. On a rock near the edge, lay another shrew. In the water next to him was what looked like a raft. On closer inspection, it was a bunch of large logs tied together. Despite that, it looked big enough to carry the whole group. As Guosim came into view, the shrew slid off the rock and on to the ground in front of her.

"Back already?" asked the shrew in a deep sounding voice.

"We have to get back to camp quickly Log-a-Log." said Guisom.

"We found some people who need help." Guosim made a gesture toward Naruto and Jess.

"The little one is badly sick." The shrew known as Log-a-Log glanced over at Naruto for a bit.

"And before you ask," said Guosim.

"Let me explain a few things about the boy." Thinking Naruto would hate to hear this subject a second time, Guisom led Log-a-Log a few feet away from the group and begun to silently fill Log-a-Log in on Naruto. Log-a-Log at one point showed a shocked look, indicating that Guisom had probably gotten to the human part. A few moments later, Log-a-Log gave a small nod.

"Its best we hurry then." he said. He picked up a long stick laying next to the rock and hopped onto the raft.

"Alright then, everybody on." ordered Log-a-Log. One by one the shrews crawled up onto the raft. It then came Naruto and Jess's turn.

"Keep the boy in the middle." said Log-a-Log. Jess gently liffted Naruto onto the raft, then she too climbed aboard. After a quick double check of the passengers, Log-a-Log took his stick and jabbed it into the water as if he was stabbing a beast with a spear. Then with a large push, they slowly drifted away from shore. Log-a-Log then started to drive the end of the stick through the water like an oar. As he did, the boat begun to gracefully glide downstream.

"We'll be there in a few minutes." announced Log-a-Log as he paddled.

"So just hang on child." Jess clung to Naruto tightly, trying her best to keep him from the cold touch of the water. Naruto felt like he was gonna pass out. His head hurt, his stomach ached. It was hell. Naruto could only pray they would go faster. Around fifteen minutes later, the glow of a fire flickered in the distance. When they got closer, a smell appeared in the air. the smell of food being cooked. It made Naruto wanna jump off the raft and chase the smell he was so hungry. Within a moment, they arrived on shore. In front of them was a large blazing fire. A circle of tents had been erected around it Next to the fire sat another shrew. He was holding a frying pan over it. On the pan lay a large tasty looking fish. Naruto licked his lips. In his mind, the fish was just begging him to eat him. A minute later, the group was back on solid ground.

"Get something ready for these two to eat." ordered Guisom. With that, she led Jess over to a large tent. There, Jess placed Naruto on a small bed of leaves. Within a moment, another shrew entered the tent. In his hands was a little sack.

"Hes very ill." said Jess.

"I'll see what i can do." said the shrew. He settled down next to Naruto and placed his hand on his forehead.

"How is he?" asked Guosim.

"Its true, he does have a high fever." answered the shrew.

"But I don't think its anything to serious." He opened the little sack and pulled out a lump of what looked like grass.

"Here, eat these." said the shrew as he handed them to Naruto.

"These herbs will help your head." Naruto eyed the herbs for a few seconds. He then slowly stuffed it into his mouth.

"Chew it nice and good." the shrew instructed. Naruto winced at the odd taste. It was like a combination of dirt and grass. He didn't wanna swallow it, but with his head aching and all, he had no choice. With one big gulp, he swallowed the herbs.

"Good," said the shrew.

"All you need now is a little food and you'll be better before you know it." A few minutes later, two other shrews entered the tent, carrying two plates with them. On the plates was a loaf of bread, a stem of berries, and a piece of freshly cooked fish meat. They handed the plates to Naruto and Jess. Naruto took a little bite off the fish. It was so delicious that no more then a second later, Naruto had begun wolfing down the food like a wild animal.

"Eat up little one." said Guosim. As Naruto devoured his meal, Guosim turned her attention to Jess.

"Now then Jess." she said.

"Would you mind talking with me in private?"

"I wouldn't mind." said Jess.

"Come with me then." said Guosim as she begun walking out of the tent. Jess followed with her plate in hand. They entered another tent not far from Naruto's tent.

"Guosim I can't tell you how good it is to have food again." said Jess as she took a bite out of her bread.

"My pleasure." said Guosim with a smile.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" asked Jess between chewing.

"About Naruto." answered Guosim.

"What about him?" asked Jess.

"I'm fascinated by him," said Guosim.

"I just wanted to know more about him. Where did he come from? Are there more of his kind around? Stuff like that."

"Well..." said Jess as she set her plate down.

"To start, I found him traveling all by himself a few days ago." Guosim shifted into a upright and focused position as Jess spoke.

"He fell through thin ice and couldn't get out. So I ran up and pulled him out. He was scared of me at first, But we sat and talked for a bit and quickly became friends." Guosim continued listening.

"He told me that he ran away from his village and needed a home, so I decided to take him with me to Redwall."

"Why would he run away?" asked Guosim.

"Not entirely sure." answered Jess.

"Apparently, everyone in his village hated him for some reason." Jess saw confusion stir up in Guosim's eyes.

"Hated him?" asked Guosim.

"Why?"

"As I said, I'm not sure." said Jess.

"He said it was complicated. So we left it at that." Guosim was both intrigued and confused.

"So your taking him to Redwall you said?" asked Guosim.

"Yes I am." said Jess.

"Hes a desperate boy. I just want to give him a home, a place to belong." Jess took another bite of her fish.

"Human or not, I'm sure they'll except him there, no matter what." Jess ate the last of the berries, leaving her plate empty.

"Again, thank you for your kindness." said Jess.

"I'm not sure what would have happened if we hadn't met you." Guosim smiled.

"We were glad to help." said Guosim.

an hour later...

Jess entered Naruto's tent to see him talking with Log-a-Log.

"Feeling better?" asked Jess.

"I feel _much _better." said Naruto in a bright happy tone.

"Good enough to get back on the trail?" she asked again.

"Sure am." said Naruto.

"Good." said Jess as she ruffled Naruto's hair.

"So you two are leaving now?" asked Guosim outside the tent.

"I'm guessing so." said Jess.

"If we get going now, we'll be at Redwall's gates by later tonight."

"Very well then." said Guosim. After gathering up their things and saying good bye the the shrews, Naruto and Jess begun to walk back towards the woods, When Guosim stopped them.

"Wait!" Guosim called after them. They turned to see Guosim running up behind them, carrying a small sword in her hands.

"Before you go, I thought you should have this Naruto." Naruto took the sword from her hands. He unsheathed it, exposing it's thick blunt blade.

"You never know what you could run into, so this will be for safe precautions."

"Thanks." said Naruto as he re-sheathed the sword.

"Don't mention it." said Guosim with a smile.

"May it do you well. Now get going." Naruto was about to walk back to Jess, but stopped a few feet. He ran back and threw his arms around Guosim.

"I'll never forget you." said Naruto. Guosim was caught completely off guard by him. But she just smiled and put her arms around him.

"Neither will I." said Guosim.

"Now off you go." Naruto broke the hug and ran back toward Jess.

"Come on Naruto," said Jess.

"Redwall awaits." With that, Naruto and Jess resumed their journey to Redwall. As they vanished into the woods, Guosim turned around to be met by Log-a-Log.

"I sure hope they make it there alright." said Log-a-Log.

"Yes, so do I." Said Guosim, her voice adapting a very nervous pich.

"I just pray that they don't run into any trouble, or..." She nearly gulped at the very thought of the next word.

"...him."

Hours later...

Nightfall had come down onto Mossflower. Everything was dark and silent. They only light out was the moon light. It was dark, but not dark enough to stop Jess. With Naruto asleep atop her back, she continued walking down the dark gloomy trail. Jess stopped for a few moments and took a look around. She remembered this part of the woods very well, a good sign.

"Naruto." said said softly as she nudged him slightly. Naruto stirred slightly before waking up.

"What?" he said after a loud yawn.

"We're not that much further from Redwall." said Jess. The tiredness and and exhaustion in suddenly lept out of Naruto's eyes after hearing those words.

"Really?" Naruto said in a suddenly anxious voice.

"That's right." answered Jess.

"About another hour or so." Naruto jumped off Jess's back with excitement.

"Awesome!" yelled Naruto. Jess looked at him as if he had just spoken gibberish.

"Pardon?" asked Jess.

"Oh," said Naruto, remembering that Jess probably didn't know any words like that.

"I mean, great." Naruto corrected himself. They continued onward. A few minutes later, they were met by a fork in the road. one was a long, dense, barely visible path. The other on led to a dark tunnel in the side of a large hill.

"Which way?" asked Naruto.

"Well..." thought Jess.

"This path is shorter, but the one through the cave is much clearer and safer." A person's first reaction would be just to stick to the safer looking trail. But you could be never to sure.

"I say we stick to the cave." Naruto suggested.

"I don't care how long it is, as long as its safe, that's fine by me."

"Alright then." said Jess. They both walked toward the cave. They stopped at its entrance as they observed the inside for a little bit. The other side was about a few hundred feet away, but it looked like a safe walk. Nothing around them but the walls of the cave, so what was the harm? Jess and Naruto walked into the tunnel. The air got suddenly cool as they walked through the tunnel.

"Cold in here." said Naruto after a slight chill. His voice echoed through the tunnel for a few seconds. As they walked, Naruto suddenly noticed something weird about the ceiling. On closer inspection, it wasn't a flat solid surface. But was a bunch of large rocks. They looked liked they had been tightly packed together, almost like a brick wall, only with out the Mortar. Naruto gently pushed on a nearby rock on the wall. It felt very loose. If the rocks on the wall weren't secure, would the rocks on the ceiling be loose too? Out of curiosity, Naruto gripped a rock on the wall, and gave it a small pull. To his surprise, this one was looser than the last one. He pulled on it harder. This time, the rock came free and popped right out of the wall. Before Naruto even knew what had happened, the rock above it fell to the floor. Then another one came down. Then another. Before either of them had time to react, the whole tunnel began to collapse.

"RUN!" screamed Jess as she ran for the exit. She flew out the exit like a brown lightning bolt. The moment she got out, the whole tunnel had imploded. As the dust cleared, the tunnel was now filled from every corner with rocks.

"That's was a close one." Jess said to Naruto. He didn't respond.

"Naruto?" she looked around. Naruto wasn't with her!

"NARUTO!" she yelled as she ran back to what remained of the tunnel.

"JESS!" squealed a frightened Naruto from the other side. Unlike Jess, Naruto out of fright, jumped in the other direction when the rocks were falling.

"Are you all right?" asked Jess.

"Yeah." said Naruto.

"Don't move, I'll try to get to you." she placed her hands on a large rock and gave it a violent yank. It didn't move. She tried every rock she could reach on the entrance. They were all jammed nice and tightly in place.

"Their to heavy!" Yelled Jess

"What do we do??" asked Naruto, now starting to sound scared. Rapid thoughts went through Jess's mind like a . The hill the cave went through was to steep and smooth to climb over, even for her. And the rocks were to heavy to move. She thought for a few moments. When an idea came to mind. Jess in no way liked the idea, but what else was there?

"Your probably not gonna like this, but listen to me Naruto." Jess called out.

"That path we passed and this one lead to the same place. I want you to take that path and meet me at the spot where these paths go." Naruto didn't even wanna consider what she just said.

"B-By myself??" Naruto whimpered.

"I know, its scary." said Jess.

"But I don't know what else to do. The path is short, so it will only be about ten minutes or so." Ten minutes? One minute being alone was hard enough. But ten? that's was more like an eternity in Naruto's mind. But Jess was right. There was no other way.

"O-Ok." said Naruto.

"Remember Naruto, We're not that far apart." said Jess, trying her best to lift his spirits.

"It won't be that long, just keep walking on the trail, and we'll be back together soon." Naruto gulped.

"Alright." said Naruto. With a few sounds of footsteps, Jess was gone. He was alone now. There was only one way out, down the trail. But it was scary to even look at. It felt more like walking into the jaws of a monster then a simple trail. Naruto didn't want to go down the trail, but he wanted to get to Redwall, no matter what. He slowly begun making his way down the dark trail. A few minutes in, Naruto's eyes begun to adjust to the darkness, making it easier for him to maneuver. The moon was also a big help. It lit up the woods with a soft glow of blueish light. It was scary, but not as scary as he thought it would be.

_"I can do this_." he thought to himself.

_"Just keep following the trail_." He suddenly realized, he wasn't completely alone. He had Kyuubi. But to his fright, he hadn't heard a word from him. He was either asleep, or just not paying attention to his situation. Either way, Naruto continued down the path. Another few minutes passed, Naruto noticed the trail begun to get larger and much clearer. And the trees begun to fall in numbers around him.

"Almost there." said Naruto. He began to pick up his pace. The further he walked, the larger and clearer the trail got. Naruto felt relief sweep over him. He was almost to Jess, almost to Redwall. Naruto continued walking, but then out of the darkness, came a sudden sound. He stopped dead in his tracks. He held still for a few seconds, trying to see what the sound was. He shrugged and begun moving again. Not much longer later, the sound came again. This time, it sounded closer. Naruto looked around for the source, but he saw nothing. It came again, then again. Now it was coming over and over again. Naruto listened in on it. It was a weird hissing sound. The kind of sound you'd get when you pour water onto a hot pan. But the freaking thing about it, was that it was very rhythmic, almost like someone breathing.

"Jess?" he asked softly.

"That you?" nobody answered. Naruto started to grow nervous. He continued walking, hoping the sound would go away. But it got louder and louder as he moved. Now starting to grow scared, he started jogging. It still kept getting louder with every step. Naruto was now running, his heart pounding, his mind filled with fear.

"Whose there?" naruto called out. All he got was another hissing sound. He ran as fast as he could, putting all the strength he had into his little legs. Then out of nowhere his foot caught on something and he went flying forward and landed face flat onto what looked like a rock. Naruto groaned as he slowly pushed himself off the rock and rubbed his throbbing head.

"Dumb log." he groaned as he turned to see what tripped him. But to his surprise, what he thought was a log didn't look anything like a log. It was smooth, large, and seemed to shrink down to a small point as you walk down it.

"That's no log." he said. He then turned to what he had landed on. It didn't look or feel like any rock he had ever seen. Instead of a rough crumbly surface, it was oddly smooth. It was hard to make out to the color, but it looked to be a dark green diamond formation, along with a lighter green outer color. Another thing caught his eye. To his side jutting out the side of the weird rock was a strange clear orb like thing. A large black slit lined middle of it. He looked on the other side to see another orb just like this one.

"Is it just me?" Naruto asked himself.

"Or does this rock have... eyes?" he reached his hand toward the orb and gently tapped it. A jolting motion shot through the thing the moment he touched it. Naruto almost jumped off the rock thing from surprise. Before he could get off, the ground begun to move away from him. He screamed as he clutched himself to whatever it was he was holding on to. The thing seemed to know Naruto was on it. So it begun to shake back and forth, trying to get Naruto off. Naruto held on with all his might. His lower body was flying around through the air like a rag doll. Despite all his strength, his grip slipped away and he went flying forward. He was expecting to land on a flat hard grassy ground. But instead, he was met by a different surface. He landed hard on a smooth round feeling thing. Naruto felt so dazed and confused as he lifted himself up and sat up. His dizzy vision made it hard to see what was in front of him, but it was something big. His vision finally cleared. As he looked to see what he landed on, he froze. The rock thing was suspended in the air by a long rope like body. But then Naruto soon realized, it was no rock. A mouth lined the front of it. Two nostril holes were drilled into it's nose. And the two orbs really were eyes. Naruto's body and mind were engulfed with fear and terror. This thing was no rock nor lock. In front of him was giant green snake!

Jess's speed managed to get her to the spot in under a few minutes. Now she was leaning against a tree, awaiting Naruto's arrival.

"Its been fifteen minutes now." Jess said to herself

"Where is he?" Jess was expecting Naruto to be here before she was. Why hasn't he arrived?

_"Calm yourself," _Jess thought.

_"He'll be here, just give him a little bit longer." _Jess was starting to grow a bit nervous about Naruto, but she knew he could do it. If he could climb up a hundred feet with her, then he could without doubt walk through a forest at night. But unfortunately for her, she was completely unaware of what Naruto had come across.

The snake glared at Naruto with it's greenish yellow glowing eyes, both of them bigger than a hubcap And just when he thought it couldn't get any scarier, the snake slowly opened it's mouth, exposing two massive razor sharp fangs, and said a word that sent chills through Naruto's entire body.

"Asmodeusssssss." it hissed, it's breath drenched with the smell of poison. Naruto started to slowly back away, when he realized he had landed on the snake's coil!

"What do we have here?" He lowered his massive head down, forcing Naruto to back up even further.

"J-J-J-J-Je-J-Jess." he whimpered. The snake's eyes continued to examine him, scanning every part of his body.

"Sssssso nice of you to drop in." said the snake as he crept closer to Naruto, almost forcing him over the edge of his coil.

"Asmodeussssss has been ssssso hungry lately." The snake's forked tongue slowly glided over his lips. (Or the place if he had lips) wetting them with a coat of saliva. At that moment, Naruto had no doubt in his mind what the snake wanted. He didn't want an apology. He didn't want to talk, or reason with him. He wanted to eat him!

"JESS!!" screamed Naruto as he jumped off the snake's coil and headed for the trees.

"You will join Asmodeussssss for dinner." Asmodeus hissed after him. With that, he slithered into the woods, beginning his pursuit.

"Huh?" Jess's ear perked up at the sudden scream that had suddenly ringed through the woods.

"Was that Naruto?" She looked out into the trees hoping to catch a glimpse of anything. She was met by another scream.

"HELP ME!!" it called out. The second time was without doubt Naruto. And when someone was screaming 'help me', that only meant one thing.

"Narutos in trouble!" exclaimed Jess. Without a second to lose, Jess took off into the woods.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!!" Naruto wailed again as he ran through the thick dark woods, Asmodeus slithering behind at a quick pace. Despite his massive size, he was sliding around every tree like water pouring down rocks. Naruto was small enough to avoid the trees and rocks, but his speed or size still wasn't enough to lose the snake.

_"Hes getting closer!" _Thought Naruto as he looked back over his shoulder.

_"Just keep running!" _All of a sudden, Naruto no longer felt the ground beneath him. He looked down. And to his horror, he had sprinted right off of a small cliff. And lying in wait About ten feet below him was a raging river. Naruto tried to grab onto the ledge, but it was too late. Within no more then a second, he was greeted with a big splash of water. Naruto was quick to resurface. He looked back up toward the ledge, only to be met by the snake's eyes.

"You won't esssssssscape Asmodeussssss." hissed Asmodeus as he glared down at him. The snake then glided down the cliff and vanished beneath the waters depths. Naruto panicked as he begun to work his way to shore. The never ending current continuously smashed into his small body, constantly knocking him off course. Not only that, Asmodeus could strike him at any second. So he had to hurry. Soon enough, he scrambled onto the muddy shore and quickly jumped onto his feet. Ignoring the stinging cold that was tearing through his body, he began to run again. But no more than second later, Asmodeus's tail exploded out of the water and wrapped itself around Naruto's waist. Asmodeus's head erected out of the water and stabilized itself.

"Going sssssso sssoon?" asked Asmodeus as he lifted Naruto right off the ground.

"LET ME GO!!" Naruto squealed as he struggled with all his might. But Asmodeus's tail didn't give the slightest sign of loosening. Naruto suddenly noticed all the mud that had been clinging to his arms, this gave him an idea. He scraped off a large glob of mud from his arm and formed it into a ball. He hesitated for a second. Then he took aim, and hurled the mud ball right at Asmodeus. It flew through the air for a split second, then with a loud splat, smacked Asmodeus right square in the eye. The snake let out a roar like hiss as the mud instantly begun stinging and burning his eye. He dropped Naruto and fiercely rubbed at the mud that coated his eye, only to have no success. In blinded rage, he submerged his head into the river. And after about ten seconds or so, the mud's grip on his eye had been removed by the raging water. His eyes returned to the shore. But where Naruto was once standing was his little backpack. Asmodeus glanced down the path ahead of him. And about a hundred yards away was Naruto. And he was getting further and further with every passing second. A frustrated hiss rolled off of Asmodeus's tongue. Not only did he have to struggle with the mud, now his dinner was getting away! But Asmodeus wasn't about to let that happen, not by his growling stomach. So Asmodeus continued after Naruto. On the other end of the path, Naruto was now struggling to even stay on his feet. The freezing cold water had drenched his body, forcing him to leave his backpack behind. Not only that, now Asmodeus was back on his trail. So ignoring the stinging cold, he continued to run. Then up ahead two his right, the trees had been split by a small opening. Without a second thought, he changed directions and vanished from Asmodeus's sight. Naruto slid to a stop. He looked around for any signs of another path. But he found nothing. In front of him lay a clear open space. It was about an acre large and covered with nothing but bushes and tree stumps. But unfortunately, the one thing that it lacked was a path. It was a dead end. A singe of panic begun to creep up Naruto's spine. But then, it stopped. It had just occurred to him. Running was doing nothing for him right now. If he continued, Asmodeus would probably just catch up again. And if he ran to far, he might not be able to find Jess. So it was to try a smarter, much easier tactic, hide. Outside the opening, Asmodeus slowed himself and begun to silently slide toward the turn that Naruto had taken. He brought his head around and peeked around. To his surprise, he saw nothing of Naruto. Asmodeus slowly scanned the land around him as he squeezed the rest of his body through the opening. After a moment of looking, he still saw nothing. How could the boy vanish so quickly? The trees had grown to thick for him to run through, he didn't hear anymore foot steps, and there was no path to be seen that he could have taken. The boy may have been missing, but Asmodeus had nothing to worry about. All this only meant one thing. He was no longer running, he was hiding.

"Come out come out wherever you are." Asmodeus hissed. The snake probed a nearby bush with his snout. Nothing was there.

"I know your here." For the next few minutes, Asmodeus slowly searched ever bush, under every rock, behind every tree, anything that could be moved or looked under. He was met with yet again nothing. Asmodeus took one last peek into a small bush, it was empty. Asmodeus let out a long continuous sigh.

"Clever little boy." said Asmodeus, sounding rather impressed.

"Have a thing for hiding I ssssssssee." Naruto left him truly surprised, but Asmodeus wasn't gonna give up there.

"But Asmodeusssssss _will_ find you."

In another part of the woods, Jess slid to a stop at the edge of the small cliff. Even though it was to dark to see it clearly, Jess could perfectly hear the surging and splashing of the river below, waiting to swallow anything that fell into its cold grasp and carry it away.

"Naruto!" she called out again. Still no answer.

"Where could he have gone?" On the other side of the river, Jess could barely make out a large piece of land. It was a little far out, but not far enough to stop Jess. She scooted a few feet away from the ledge. Then after a deep breath, she shot forward and launched herself off the ledge. She remained airborne for a few seconds. Then once gravity retook control, she begun to plummet toward the shoreline. She touched down just inches from the water. She tried to straighten herself, but the muddy ground was to soft to hold her weight. She collapsed onto her hands and knees.

"Oh goodness." she groaned as she pulled her hands out of the gloppy mess. She proceeded to wipe her hands off on her legs, when something in front of her caught her gaze. There was something sticking out of the mud just before her. Despite all the mud that had coated its surface, it looked to have a blue color to it. Once she scooped it out of the mud, she instantly knew what it was.

"Its Naruto's backpack." she said to herself. It was his alright. But there was one problem, no Naruto.

"But wheres Naruto?"

Asmodeus continued with his searching. When suddenly something caught his eye. On the ground below him, was a small glob of mud. On closer inspection, Asmodeus noticed that an odd design had been in bedded into it. Like the bottom of a sandal. Asmodeus looked forward to discover more mud prints, all of them carrying the same design on it. Asmodeus's eyes lit up. These were no random splats of mud, they were footprints. He slowly followed them for a few feet, when from behind the cover of a bush, a hollow log propped up on a rock came into view. The footprints ended right at the base of the rock. And the edge of the log had been encrusted with mud.

"Theresssssss no essssssscape from me." said Asmodeus as he slowly crept toward the log. He put his eye into the hole. And gazing back at him were the horror filled eyes of his prey.

"Misssssss me?" Asmodeus hissed as his tail curled itself around the log. Naruto squealed with fright as the snake lifted the log off the ground. He then tipped it over, sending Naruto rolling out of it and onto the ground.

"W-wait." said Naruto as he begun backing away from the snake.

"I d-didn't mean t-t-to wake you." Naruto was halted abruptly by a large rock behind him.

"No where to run to now." said Asmodeus. Naruto looked all around. If he even tried to run anywhere, he would be cut off by the snake. He had been pinned. Not only that, but Asmodeus's head had now begun to slowly close in on the boy, coming in for the kill. Naruto rattled all over as he felt the snakes foul breath pour over. His hand dropped down to his side. When something suddenly bumped against his hand. He looked down, and hanging on his belt, was the sword Guosim had given him. He didn't think it would be so soon, but it was time to put it to use. He yanked the sword from its sheath and pointed the tip toward Asmodeus's nose.

"Get away from me!" Naruto yelled as he tried to control his constant shaking. Asmodeus backed off slightly at the sight of the blunt blade.

"I'll use this I swear I will!" The snaked almost laughed. Sure he had a sword, but he could see the fear in the boy's eyes, the wobbling in his knees, no where near the stance or appearance any warrior would bear.

"Little young for a sssssssword aren't you?" Asmodeus smirked as his tail begun to reach for the sword.

"Put that away, before you hurt yoursssssself." Before he could get a grip on it, Naruto quickly swatted his tail away with the sword.

"The only one getting hurt will be you if you don't go away!" Naruto snapped. Asmodeus retracted his tail with surprise. Now the boy was picking up an attitude. And if the boy was true to his word, he might even attack at any moment. Even though he could simply just swallow him before he got a foot away from him, sword could more than likely kill him on its way down his throat. And if he tried to strike first, there was always the slightest chance that the boy just might dodge, making his large neck a perfect target. Deciding that a sword through the neck or stomach wasn't the way to go, Asmodeus decided to try a different approach.

"Now now," said Asmodeus.

"No need to get violent." The snake lowered himself into a less threatening position.

"Asmodeusssssss has no wish to harm you."

"Yeah, like I'll believe that_._" Naruto scoffed.

"Come now," said Asmodeus in the most sympathetic voice he could dish out.

"why would Asmoduessssss hurt a little child?" After a few curls and lashes of his body, his coils formed a nice mound below him.

"Don't feed me your lies!" yelled Naruto.

"Jess told me never to listen to snakes like you, and I'm not about to!"

"But I insissssst," hissed Asmodeus, his voiced lined with disappointment.

"Asmodeussss can see you sssssafely out of this terrible place." Naruto almost laughed.

"And how will I know you won't eat me?" Naruto asked.

"Has Asmodeussss eaten you yet?" Asked Asmodeus. Naruto tried to answer, but stopped.

"If Asmodeusssss wanted to eat you, he would have ages ago." Naruto couldn't help it, but what he said was true. If he wanted to eat him, he could have just done it there and then, instead of wasting time chatting with his prey, wouldn't he?

"Now, why don't you jusssst put down that sword and listen to Asmodeusssss?" Naruto thought for what seemed like forever. It was true, Asmodeus could have eaten him long ago. He could even eat him right now, but he hasn't.

_"Could he be telling the truth?" _Naruto thought to himself. But then he mentally slapped himself. Was he really believing him? Every single word could have been a lie for all Naruto knew. But at the same time, maybe he really is truthful. Another thing Naruto just realized, he was completely lost now. Asmodeus probably knew the forest inside and out. And if he were to leave, where would he go? How would he get back to Jess? So with all the courage he had, Naruto slowly gazed back up at the snake.

"If..." Naruto began.

"If I were to believe you..." As he spoke, the sword slowly begun to lower.

"...how would you help me?" A gleam of triumph shown in the snake's eye. His words were getting to the boy finally.

"Sssssimple." coed Asmodeus. The snake begun to slowly lower his head toward the boy, being careful not to startle him. When he stopped, their noses were barley feet apart. The snake then hissed.

"Jussssst look into my eyesssss." But unfortunately, the boy avoided his gaze.

"Come now." the snake said.

"Wh- what w- will-" Naruto started.

"Theresssss nothing to be afraid of." Asmodeus cut in.

"Now let me sssssee those eyessss of yours." Finally the urge being to great for him, one of his eyes peeked into the snake's eye. It was just what Naruto had expected. They were huge, lined with two black slits, and seemed to glow with a horrid vomit color. Naruto would happily look away, but he didn't want to anger the snake. About a second later, he tried to look away, but for some weird reason, his body didn't respond.

_"Huh?" _Naruto thought in confusion. When he brought his attention back to the snake, something seemed to have changed about his eyes. Nothing physical, but they no longer felt as scary or weird to look at. Now, they actually seemed rather welcoming and enjoyable.

"Yessssss," hissed Asmodeus.

"Look deeper into my eyesssss." His head begun to slowly sway from side to side, forcing Naruto to reveal his other eye, completely capturing his gaze. Unable to look away, Naruto continued to stare into Asmodeus's eyes. Soon enough, everything around him begun to blur and fade away, while Asmodeus's eyes became clearer and clearer.

"Theressss no need to be afraid anymore." purred Asmodeus.

"Your ssssssafe."

"S-s-safe?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Yesssss." answered Asmodeus.

"As long as Asmodeussssss is around, you'll be nice and ssssssafe." He let out a deep dark chuckle. Now it was time to let his eyes do the work.

"Naruo!" Jess cried out. She had barely made fifty yards since she had found Naruto's backpack. And judging by how big the woods are, he could be anywhere.

"Naruo! Can you hear me?" there was still no response. They only lead she had now was the backpack, and a very odd looking trench that lined the side of the path. It was too smooth to be any natural made trench, and it looked far to new. Growing curious, she set the pack down, and hopped into the trench. She felt around on the ground for a few moments, when she realized there was something oddly familiar about this trench.

"Where have I seen something like this before?" she asked herself as she thought. What could it be? The roundness, the depth, it all seemed so familiar, but what was it?

"Wait a minute," she said, suddenly remembering.

"This is no trench, its a..." She stepped out of trench as a loud gulp sounded in her throat.

"...snake trail." Just that moment, out of the woods came a voice. A voice that sent shivers down her whole body.

"Asmodeussssss." it said. Her expression lost all life. She knew that name. It was the name of every creatures worst nightmare in Mossflower, Asmodeus. Just the very thought of it was enough to make anyone quiver. Jess was on the verge of turning back, but she couldn't abandon Naruto. Suddenly, a horrid realization came to Jess. The place where she had found his backpack, was where the trail begun too!

"Oh no..." was all she could bear to say. Without a second to lose, she snagged Naruto's bag and took off down the path.

"Asmodeussssss" Asmodeus hissed once again as his swaying ceased. In front of him stood Naruto, now almost completely mesmerized. He was unable to move or speak, and the snake's eyes were all that he could think about, all he cared about. All of his memories had almost vanished. He barely remembered anything of Jess, Kyuubi, the village, or Redwall. Soon, the hypnosis began to take its final toll on him. His eye lids began to grow heavier with every passing second. Soon enough, he couldn't bear to hold them anymore. They began to droop down slowly over his eyes.

_"F-fight it." _he thought to himself, struggling to stay awake. Asmodeus was surprised by a small resistant he suddenly met from the boy. But no matter, he just lowered himself and stared even deeper into his eyes.

"No need to resist." he hissed

"In my eyes, you will find peace, and sssssafety."

_N- n- need t- to get b- back with J-Jess." _He fought back with all the will he had left, but no matter what he did, Asmodeus's eyes were to much for his young mind. Feeling the slight block fading away, Asmodeus gazed deeply into the boy's eyes and hissed.

"Sssssssleep now, little one."

When he heard that single word, everything else in his mind slipped away in an instant. Now all that he could think about was the pleasure of sleep. The comfort, the warmth, no reason to move, he could just relax. Within another moment or two, his eyes slid shut. Naruto let out a long peaceful sigh, before slipping into a deep dark trance. Asmodeus hissed with delight at his catch of the night. And now it was time for the best part.

"Assss I said" hissed Asmodeus.

"Nice and sssssafe. Asmodeussssss always keeps hisss word." Then with a finally chuckle, he reared his head back, opened his mouth, then with a loud hunger filled hiss, his mouth shot forward like a bullet, heading straight for Naruto. Naruto was unable to move, run, or scream for help. All he could do was sleep, and await the impact that was to come. Asmodeus was halfway to his meal, but then the next thing Asmodeus knew, out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a brown object speeding toward Naruto. Within the blink of an eye, it snatched Naruto right off the ground, leaving nothing but the grass. Asmodeus tried to stop, but he was going to fast. He slammed mouth first into the earth, tasting not flesh, but dirt. He yanked his fangs out of the ground as he hissed with anger. He turned to where the thing ran to, and standing in front of him, with Naruto in her arms was none other than Jess.

"What is the meaning of thissssss interruption?" growled Asmodeus as he slithered toward the squirrel at a quick pace.

"I wassss in the middle of a meal."

"Your not laying a single fang on Naruto!" Snarled Jess.

"Not while I'm around!"

"For your information," started Asmodeus.

"Asmodeusssss is rather hungry. And that little boy your holding happens to be my dinner." Asmodeus lowered his head, and stared Jess right in the eyes.

"You _will _give me the boy." He hissed as his head slowly drifted from side to side. Not fooled by the snake's tricks, Jess looked away immediately.

"Give him to me, and _maybe _I'll let you live." Jess glared back at the snake, this time only looking at his mouth.

"Nothing you say is gonna convince me." Said Jess sternly. Asmodeus was left a bit shocked. She would give her life for the life of some child?

"I made you a fine offer ssssssquirrel." hissed Asmodeus.

"I won't harm you, all I'll be eating isssss that boy." Jess stepped back slightly and growled.

"Over my dead body." Now Asmodeus was fed up. Talking was gonna do nothing with this squirrel. So it was time for plan b.

"Fine then." said Asmodeus.

"More food for Asmodeusssss." Without warning, he lunged at Jess, mouth wide open. Jess jumped right over Asmodeus's head and landed on his back. Jess ran along his long back, with Asmodeus close behind. Once she reached the highest point, she jumped leaped right off Asmodeus's coil, just seconds before he struck again. She landed on a tree branch about ten feet off the ground. Before making another jump, she turned back to Asmodeus.

"I swear," she said with a long glare.

"If you ever touch Naruto again, then you'll be sorry." With that, she jumped onto the nearest branch. Then another, and another, until eventually, she and Naruto vanished into the woods, leaving Asmodeus with nothing but his empty belly.

About five minutes passed before Jess finally halted.

"Think I lost him." said Jess with relief. She then looked down at Naruto, who was still sound asleep.

"Naruto?" she gently patted his cheek, but no response.

"You alright Naruto?" Naruto only yawned and snuggled into her chest.

"Hes in a trance I suppose." Jess said to herself as she lightly ran her hand through Naruto's hair.

"Maybe I shouldn't wake him yet." So Jess continued off into the woods towards Redwall, without a single thought of stopping.

For another hour or so, Jess bounded through the trees non stop. No matter how tired she got, she pressed on. Eventually, a clearing erupted in the distance. She landed on one final tree, then she slid back down to the ground. Off in the distance, stood what looked like large gates to a castle. With a closer look, almost instantly Jess knew where they were.

"Redwall!" said Jess with all the strength she had remaining. In her arms, she felt Naruto begin to stir.

"R-Redwall?" he croaked softly.

"Don't worry Naruto," she said to Naruto as she patted his head.

"We're here now. Every things gonna be alright." Naruto yawned and went back to sleep. About a minute later, Jess stood before the massive doors. She raised her fist and pounded on the gates a couple times.

"Who goes there?" called a voice above the gate.

"Its me, Jess." she called back, feeling glad to hear a familiar voice again.

"Jess? You've returned?" he asked.

"Sure have!" said Jess.

"Well then, let me get the gate open for ya'" After a moment of silence, the gates slowly creaked open. Jess walked through without a moments hesitation. The moment the doors closed, a wave of relief swept over Jess. There was no need to run anymore. They had made it, they were in Redwall. Unfortunately, Naruto on the other hand wasn't able to share Jess's excitement. All he could do was sleep, completely unaware of anything. Although the slight sounds of voices managed to make their way into his ears, they weren't enough to bring out of his sleep. After what seemed like hours, Naruto barely managed to pry his eyes open a hair. Along with eyes, some of his senses suddenly returned. He couldn't see where exactly he was, but he was no long in Jess's arms. As far as he knew, he was lying down on a very soft surface. Soon, voices made themselves known. One of them he could barely remember as Jess's, but didn't recognize the other two.

"We'll keep him here till morning," said one of them, which had a very heavy tone to it.

"till then, you should get some rest Jess."

"Alright then." said Jess, her voice seeming to lack all energy.

"Be sure to tell me when he wakes up."

"Don't worry, we will." said another voice, this time, it sounded much younger and gentler.

"Now go get some sleep, everything is going to be alright now." Before he could hear anymore of them, the urge to sleep finally over took Naruto. Without any struggle, Naruto's eyes closed once again. And Naruto sunk into a deep peaceful sleep.

Finally I've updated! Sry it took me so long. Probably not my best chapter, but anyway, hope you enjoy!


	8. Redwall

Deep within Naruto's small mind, the fog of Asmodeus's hypnosis had finally begun to disappear. Slowly but surely, all the memories and thoughts that were for a while gone, had begun to return to him. Now free from the trance, Naruto began to slowly pry his tired eyes open once again.

"I think hes waking up." said the heavy toned voice from last night. At first, his vision was quite blurred from sleepiness. Once he blinked the blur away, he discovered that he was laying in a nice soft bed. Over his body lay a thick blanket. He slowly turned and looked to his side, and beside his bed he was met by a large badger.

"Well good morning." the badger greeted him behind a smile. Naruto yawned loudly and took a closer look at the badger. She wore what looked like a large apron over her chest. Her arms however were covered by two dark blue sleeves. On her head, sat a tan colored bandana.

"W-where am I?" he asked in a tired voice.

"Your in Redwall." she answered. A tide of sudden excitement flowed over Naruto, but a thick cloud of tiredness prevented him from showing any of it.

"Your safe now." Suddenly, another face came into his vision just behind the badger. Naruto rubbed his eyes and took a look at the new face. After just a mere glance, Naruto nearly jumped right out of his bed with fright. Behind the badger was another snake!

"Awake I see." said the snake. To Naruto's surprise, her voice wasn't ragged and terrifying like Asmodeus's. In fact, it was no where even near scary. Instead, the snake's voice was very young and cheerful, like that of a playful school girl. Naruto looked down at the floor to see at least thirty five to forty feet of her coils laid out on the ground like streaks of paint. So with a body that long, Naruto could safely assume that she was a python. And these weren't the kind of normal snake coils Naruto had seen in books back at the academy. These coils were almost as thick as his entire body. Her head on the other hand was also very large, with a mouth almost big enough to swallow him whole. Her skin was light brown. Streaming down her back was a line of dark brown diamond shaped spots. Then he came up to her eyes. And once again to his surprise, they were just gorgeous. They matched the color of her body, and glittered like diamonds. And unlike the normal snakes Naruto had known of including Asmodeus, she had a set of eyelids. It didn't take long for the snake to notice Naruto's stare, which she replied to with a slight delightful giggle.

"Now," said the badger, breaking the short silence.

"My name is Constance."

"Nice to meet you." said Naruto.

"I'm Naruto."

"Ah, Naruto" said the snake with fascination.

"That's a very lovely name." Naruto's cheeks burnt bright red. Never had he been given such a loving comment from anyone, let alone a snake.

"I'm Sylvia by the way." her name, like almost everything else about her was very pretty and pleasant.

"Pleased to meet you too." said Naruto, no longer feeling frightened by Sylvia.

"Oh! I almost forgot." said Constance suddenly.

"Your probably wondering where Jess is aren't you?" Naruto's thoughts suddenly shot back to last night. He could barely remember being in Jess's arms, gliding through the trees like a speeding bullet. He searched around the entire room, but Jess was no where to be seen.

"Oh! Jess! Is she alright?" Naruto asked, his voice filled with worry.

"Its alright," Constance quickly reassured him.

"Shes just resting now. You wouldn't believe how exhausted she was last night."

"Yes," added Sylvia.

"She looked like she was gonna collapse at any moment." Naruto sighed with relief.

"But don't worry, she should wake up at any time now." Barely a second after she said that, the door slowly creaked open. They all turned, and standing in the doorway was none other then Jess.

"Jess!" cried Naruto with joy.

"Naruto!" Jess said in return, looking and sounding slightly worn out.

"Well speak of the devil." chuckled Constance as Jess rushed over to Naruto's side.

"You feeling alright?" asked Jess as she knelt down toward him.

"Felling a little cold from the water still, but I think I'm ok." Naruto answered.

"How about you?"

"Still a little tired, but I'm fine too." said Jess as she ruffled Naruto's hair.

"So, since were all nice and settled," said Constance.

"I think its best we consult Father Mortimer now."

"I agree." said Jess.

"Whose Father Mortimer?" Naruto asked.

"Hes one of our elders here in Redwall." said Sylvia.

"Ever since last night, hes been asking so many questions about you. Now since your awake, maybe we could feed his curiosity." Constance nodded with agreement.

"Yes. I'm sure he'll be very pleased to talk with you." said Constance.

"Sylvia, being the swift one, would you mind fetching him for us?"

"I'd be glad to." said Sylvia with a smile. She then slid right over Naruto's bed toward the window.

"Be back in a bit." said Sylvia as she fiddled with the lock for a moment. Once it came loose, the window opened with ease. Then as quickly and gracefully as a river, Sylvia's body begun flowing through the window. It took a few moments for the rest of her body to catch up, but soon enough, she was gone.

"Not quite what you were expecting Naruto?" asked Constance, taking notice of his rather confused expression.

"Not at all." answered Naruto, sounding very bewildered.

"I thought you said all snakes were bad and shouldn't be trusted Jess." Jess laughed.

"Well I think I should have rephrased that. Not _all_ snakes are bad."

"Yes," said Constance.

"Some are big and evil like Asmodeus and most of those poisonous snakes. " Just the mentioning of that name sent a shiver through Naruto's body.

"But others are much nicer like Sylvia, so don't be afraid of her." taking notice of the window that still hung open, Naruto crawled up to it and stuck his head out. A cool, fresh breeze washed over him as he looked over his new surroundings. The first thing that caught his gaze was the new layer of snow that now blanketed most of the ground. Out in front of him however lay a large open field, looking around the size of a football field. Further out lay a large wall. It stretched out quite a long way in both directions, and just like the name suggested, the wall was a light red.

"It looks so nice." said Naruto.

"That it is. And don't worry this is only one part of it, there's still more to see." Naruto returned his gaze to the courtyard. It was then when he had finally noticed movement down there. On closer inspection, they turned out to be mice. They were walking, hauling carts, and playing around in the snow.

"I've never seen so many mice before." said Naruto.

"They populate most of Redwall." said Constance.

"But we also get a few moles and squirrels here and there."

"You'll get to meet them soon enough, but for now, we think it would be best for you to remain here." About five minutes later, the door slowly swung open, and in slithered Sylvia.

"Alright then Naruto." Sylvia said behind a bright smile.

"We would like you to meet Father Mortimer." A second later, a rather old looking mouse stepped into the room. His fur was a dark Grey, along with a few small patches of white around his eyes and mouth. He was wearing a dark brown cloak that hid his feet from view, and a pair of round glasses sat on the bridge of his nose.

"Greetings there little one." he said. His voice was old, yet still sounded friendly.

"I'm Father Mortimer." He pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed.

"But you may call me Father Abbot if you like."

"I'm Naruto." said Naruto.

"It's very nice to meet you Naruto." Said Father Abbot as he extended his hand to Naruto, which he shook almost instantly.

"Now then, would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself?"

"Sure thing." said Naruto.

"What do you want to know?"

"Well if you don't mind me asking," Father Abbot started.

"how did a little human like yourself end up all the way out here in Mossflower?"

"Well..." said Naruto, sounding rather hesitant.

"Back in my village, nobody liked me." Naruto instantly noticed the slight shock in the Abbot's eyes.

"I had no friends, no family."

"My goodness, that's awful." said Father Abbot.

"You don't know the half of it." Naruto added.

"I walked for days and days, until eventually I met Jess. Then she brought me here to Redwall."

"I don't see why they would loath a boy like you." said Father Abbot.

"Well its true." said Naruto, starting to feel sadness rising in him.

"Not one person in that village showed me any respect, not one." He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. But then he felt the Abbot hand gently rested upon his head.

"That's such a horrible thing to hear." he said with sympathy.

"I assure you'll find absolutely nothing like that here." Naruto's eyes suddenly lit up.

"So I can stay?" he asked.

"Well of course you can." Father Abbot answered as he rubbed the boys head.

"No matter who you are or what you are, your always welcome here in Redwall." Naruto's sorrow was instantly replaced with excitement. A home! Finally after all of his travels and struggles, he had found a home!

"But before we introduce you to the abbey," said Father Abbot

"I figured it would be best to make sure your nice and healthy. After all, you've been wandering in the cold for days, we don't want you to be sick on your first day here." Naruto couldn't argue with that.

"You may come in now." Father Abbot called to the door. In stepped a much younger mouse, looking no older than twenty. Her fur was a light brown, and wore robes similar to Father Abbot's. Around her head lay a light brown cowl. In her hands was a small metal tray. On the tray was a set of basic medical tools. These included a mortar and pestle, a set of herbs, a bowl of water, and a small bandage roll.

"Oh and I almost forgot, there's something I must get for you." With that he stood up and headed for the door.

"I'll be back momentarily." Once he had exited, the younger mouse set the tray down on a nearby nightstand and walked over the the bedside.

"Hello there." she said in an almost terribly friendly voice..

"I'm Melisa, you would be Naruto right?" Naruto nodded.

"Well then I'm just gonna take quick look at you." Constance stood up and offered her the seat, which she accepted. Once situated, she begun performing her tests. After about a minute or so, she came to a conclusion.

"Well a few bumps and bruises, but overall your in very good shape." Melisa said as she reached for the mortar and pestle.

"But just to be safe, I'm going to brew up a little drink, It'll prevent you from getting sick from the cold." She took a few herbs and placed them into the mortar. Then with the pestle, begun crushing and mixing them.

"Oh by the way," said Melisa as she worked at the herbs.

"If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me what happened last night? I never did hear."

"Well..." said Naruto with great uncertainty. Just the slightest thought of last night sent a shiver through Naruto's bones. He threw a quick glance at Jess. And in that moment, he could easily make out the uneasiness in her eyes. Yet despite that, he didn't want to be rude.

"Alright then." He shifted himself into a comfortable position before beginning.

"Well me and Jess were still on our way here to Redwall. Everything was fine, but then... we got separated." Naruto could feel fear building in him, as if he were in that night once again.

"So, I had to walk down this trail to meet back with Jess. But instead of Jess, I met..." it took all the will power he had to even think of the next word. With a loud fearful gulp, he said.

"...Asmodeus..." The moment that name left his mouth, all the grinding and mixing Melisa was once doing had stopped. Her bright and happy expression had suddenly drained away, and was replaced with shock and fear.

"A-Asmodeus?" she asked in a now slightly trembling voice, obviously afraid to even think of him.

"Yes." Naruto answered, now beginning to tremble as well. Melisa put the mortar back onto the nightstand and scooted closer to the bed.

"What happened after that?" she asked, now sounding as eager as a child.

"I tried to get away from him, but then he had me cornered." Melisa was almost on the edge of her seat.

"And then... well..." Oddly, it suddenly became harder to remember the rest of the night.

"I think he told me to look into his eyes or something like that." He thought harder, trying to make out anymore details. But there was nothing left.

"And..." he pondered.

"That's all I remember." Even after he was done, Melisa was still in disbelief.

"My word, that must have been horrifying." said Melisa.

"It was." said Naruto, still shaking at the memory.

"You said he told you to look into his eyes?" Jess suddenly asked.

"Yes." answered Naruto.

"I remember him saying that it would help me, that I would find peace and safety." Constance nearly scoffed at that quote.

"Snakes like Asmodeus will say anything to get what they want." she said as she crossed her arms.

"Then after that... nothing."

"Just as I thought." said Jess.

"It was his hypnosis you were experiencing."

"Hypnosis?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes." Melisa answered, her voice now very grim.

"What he does is he captures your gaze with his large eyes." her voice made it seem she was telling a ghost story, but not in the fun way.

"And as you stare into them, you slowly sink into an entranced sleep." Naruto gulped as those horrid eyes made their way back into his memory.

"So that's one thing you always need to remember, never look Asmodeus in the eyes." She reached for the mortar and begun mixing again.

"Rarely does Asmodeus ever leave one to tell the tale, so your very lucky to be alive." she added.

"Well I wouldn't be if it hadn't been for Jess." said Naruto.

"I would have been... eaten." Naruto shuddered slightly.

"But you shouldn't worry anymore Naruto." Melisa reassured him as she gently rubbed his head.

"Once your within Redwall's gates, Asmodeus will never get you." With a few more mashes of the pestle, she took the bowl of water and and sprinkled the herbs into it.

"Here, drink this." Melisa instructed as she lowered the bowl toward his mouth. Naruto took a big sip of the water. Despite the herbs, it tasted like any other water. She then set it back onto the tray.

"Well that should do it." she said as she stood up and retrieved the tray.

"I must be off now, but I'll be sure to visit you." she made her way to the door. But then she stopped.

"Oh and by the way," she said as she turned back toward him.

"Welcome to Redwall." Then with one more smile, she exited the room. Soon after, Father Abbot walked through the door once again. In his hands he carried a folded up piece of green cloth.

"Now if your going to stay here in Redwall," said Father Abbot as he lay the cloth down onto the bed.

"Your going to need a little change of wardrobe." Naruto took the cloth in his hands and unfolded it. It turned out to be a little green robe, similar to the one Father Abbot was wearing. It had long sleeves, and a hood.

"Try it on." said Father Abbot. Naruto threw it over his head and onto his body. After a moment of searching and prodding at the robe, he slid his arms into the sleeves. Then with a small tug on the collar, out popped his head. Naruto looked down at himself for a few seconds. By the look and feel of it, the robe fit him like a glove.

"I like this." said Naruto as he felt the soft texture flow under his hands.

"Its cozy." Father Abbot laughed slightly.

"Well I'm glad you like it." he said with a smile.

"Now we feel its safe to let you rest for a little bit, regain a little of your strength."For almost the entire time, Naruto had completely failed to notice how sore and tired he felt. Constant twinges and stings jolted in Naruto's muscles. These were only minor in most of his muscles, but his legs however were another story. Every time he even tried to move them, his sore and aching muscles fought back, sending shards of pain through them. So considering the state he was in, sleep sounded like a good idea.

"Alright then." said Naruto as he crawled back toward his pillow, trying his best to ignore his aching muscles.

"We'll come and check on you every now and then," said Father Abbot.

"But for now, try to get some sleep." He started making his way to the door, with Constance and Sylvia following close behind. Jess however came to Naruto's side.

"I'm so glad to see you alright." she said as she rubbed his head.

"Its all thanks to you Jess." said Naruto with a smile.

"So what do you think of Redwall so far?" she asked.

"Oh Jess I like it already!" Naruto answered with glee.

"Everybody here is so friendly, its just like you said."

"Well that's Redwall for you." Jess laughed.

"Now then, you wouldn't happen to be hungry would you?" as if it were answering her question, a soft growl sounded in Naruto's stomach.

"Oh, yes I am." he answered, even though his own stomach had already made it obvious.

"Well then I'll get them to send up some breakfast for you." said Jess.

"Until then, take Father Abbot's advice and relax a bit, don't want you to be all tired and groggy when you meet the rest of Redwall." Naruto nodded. He relaxed against his pillow and pulled the covers over his legs. Then with one more pat on the head, Jess departed from the room and closed the door behind her. After a few little tosses and turns, Naruto finally managed to get nice and comfy. He let his head sink slowly into the pillow, allowing it's softness and warmth work at his aching neck. Within a moment or two, all the pains and cramps that were tearing at his muscles had almost been completely drained from his body. Soon enough Naruto's eyes closed, and he embraced sleep. Unfortunately however, his sleep was short lived. When out of nowhere came a loud familiar voice.

"**Hey there kit." **it boomed. Naruto flew straight back up, bringing with him a surprised yelp. He looked around dazed and confused for a few seconds, but it didn't take long to discover the source, since it was literally sitting right in front of him.

"Kyuubi!" he yelled as he got up and looked around, instantly recognizing his new surroundings.

"**Feeling alright kit?" **he asked behind his usual grin.

"Feeling alright?" Naruto asked, now starting to sound rather angry.

"Where were you last night? I was almost eaten, and you didn't even try to help me!"

"**First of all kit," **Kyuubi answered.

"**I was fully aware of what was happening, and I was trying all I could to help you."**

"Couldn't you have just given me some of your chakra?" Naruto asked.

"**I was trying to, but I couldn't." said Kyuubi.**

"**Turns out, I can only work my chakra within the seal's limits, and that would be within your mind and certain parts of your body." **Naruto stared at him with confusion.

"Then where did that chakra from a few days earlier come from?" he asked.

"**I didn't do that." **answered Kyuubi.

"**From what I've seen, the seal has been made to where only you can control my chakra outside of its boundaries."**

"So, _I_ made that happen?" asked Naruto.

"**Looks like it." **Kyuubi replied again.

"**And by the looks of it, it seems that its your emotions that help control it. Tell me, how did you feel when you were using my chakra?" **Naruto thought for a moment.

"I remember feeling anger." Naruto started.

"I felt like I could kill someone."

"**Alright then." **said Kyuubi.

"**It seems anger is what releases my chakra. and gives us a stronger connection to each other, in other words our line of communication. "**

"So all I have to do is get angry and then I'll get your chakra?" Naruto asked.

"**Seems like it." **Kyuubi answered.

"**But it also seems that your emotions can also play against you as well, and judging from last night, fear weakens our connection, that's why I was unable to speak to you." **Naruto continued listening.

"**Although there was a moment where you started to feel angry, therefore strengthening our connection. But right as I tried to contact you, for some reason your mind went into a trance like state, severing the connection."**

"Well, they said that Asmodeus hypnotized me," Naruto informed him.

"Maybe that's what it was."

"**Hypnosis eh?" **Kyuubi said as his large claw grazed the bottom of his jaw in thought.

"**I'll have to make note of that, so we can be prepared the next time we meet that snake." **A long uneasy sigh left Naruto.

"Which I hope is NEVER." he added.

"**But all that matters now is that your safe." **said Kyuubi.

"**I'm pretty sure we won't have to worry about Asmodeus anymore. So for now I say just relax, we'll probably start training once you've gotten to know the place." **Naruto nodded.

"Guess I can't argue with that."

About half an hour later Jess returned with his breakfast, which he wolfed down in a heart beat. And just like Jess had promised, the food was beyond amazing! Every bite was like candy for his taste buds, and his once empty stomach was now filled. Considering what he had back in the village, (Which was usually out of the garbage half the time) this was probably the greatest breakfast he ever had. After his heavenly breakfast, Naruto spent most of the day relaxing in bed. Occasionally Jess would come in and chat with him for a few minutes. It was until later that day that Jess took the opportunity to take Naruto out to a nearby balcony for a better look at Redwall. Just as Jess said, Redwall was a very lovely looking place. In one area was a large orchard, with rows and rows of trees. According to Jess, in the warmer times of the year these trees and bushes would produce the most marvelous fruits. And the orchard also served as a place of meditation for most of the mice in Redwall, and of course a place for the little ones (Or dibbuns as they seemed to call them) to run and play. There was also a number of buildings within the abbey. A few were the dormitories, the gatehouse, the infirmary, the kitchen, and the great hall. Naruto was dieing to see more, but under Father Abbot's advice, he remained in the upper dormitories, his window and the balcony being the only view of Redwall.

Later that night...

The day had once again yield to night time, and Naruto was sound asleep in his bed. Never in his life had Naruto had a more peaceful and comfortable sleep. With the softness of the bed, the darkness of the room and the cool night air, Naruto was sleeping within moments. And it was the first time he had slept with a roof above his head in over a week. So the worries of Asmodeus, the ninja and any other dangers were a thing of the past. So was all was silent. The only sound to be heard were the gentle moans of the wind outside, and Naruto's soft breathing as he slept, his mind and body at peace. But then out of the darkness came a soft drawn out creaking noise, like the sound of a door being opened. Naruto heard the noise, but it wasn't enough to rouse him from his peaceful state. But then suddenly, a gleam of light cast itself over his eyes, forcing a groan out of Naruto as the light battered against his eyelids. After a few moments, Naruto slowly started to open his eyes. The light made it quite a struggle to even get them half open. After his eyes adjusted, he gave them a firm rub and gazed toward the source of the light. To his surprise, the door was half open. Naruto glanced around the room, but there was nobody to be found. So what opened the door? The answer came soon enough, in the form of a soft young voice.

"I think this is where they took him." it said.

"Are you sure about this?" asked another one, also sounding like a child's voice.

"Trust me, I saw them with him last night, I want to see him." Naruto continued listening. But then instead of another voice, the door slowly creaked open. And in the doorway stood two little mice.

"That's him, I told you." said the mouse on the left. Naruto didn't move a single muscle as he gazed at the mice. They looked about as old as he was. Their fur was brown, they wore ropes similar to his, and their eyes were wide with fascination as they stared at him. Naruto wasn't sure whether to be excited or nervous. There stood two mice! Two of the many mice of Redwall that he had wanted to meet! But what was he to say to them? Should he introduce himself? Jess nor any of the others were there, so what should he do?

"Hey you there." the mouse called out softly as he begun slowly approaching the bed. Naruto remained silent.

"Can you talk?" he asked. Naruto opened his mouth, but all he could manage was.

"Uhhh, uhhh." Naruto was struggling to find his voice, his thoughts were racing, and the mouse was getting closer!

"You have a name?" he continued. For a moment Naruto almost forgot his own name he was so nervous. After a short silence, he found the courage to open his mouth to talk. But just as he was about to speak. A different voice suddenly entered the room.

"You two!" it snapped. Instantly their eyes shot toward the door. And in the doorway stood Constance.

"What do you think your doing in here?" In almost an instant the mouse dashed away from the bed and up to Constance.

"We just wanted to see the human." he answered with obvious fear.

"Hes none of your concern for now!" Constance growled again.

"Now off to bed, both of you!" And as quick as they appeared, they were gone. The badger quickly relieved her anger with a long sigh.

"Looks like curiosity got the best of those two." she said.

"I must go inform Father Abbot about this, but don't worry they won't bother you again. So just go back to sleep." Naruto nodded. With a short swing, the door closed. It took a few moments to shake off shock from the sudden encounter, but eventually Naruto laid his head back down and tried to let sleep take him again. But even sleep's helping hand wasn't enough to calm his racing thoughts. Overcome by the battle with his thoughts, Naruto opened his eyes.

"_They didn't seem so happy to see me..." _He thought to himself. Sure they didn't hate him at first sight, in fact they seemed rather fascinated. But from what Naruto had learned, fascination didn't always guarantee respect.

"_If that's how they reacted, how would the rest of Redwall react?" _There were hundreds of other mice in Redwall, so obviously all of them would have a different reaction. But if two of them didn't give him the big warm welcome that he was expecting, whose to say the rest of them would be happy about his presence?

"_I won't be meeting them for a few more days." _He reassured himself.

"_I shouldn't worry about it for now. Besides, Jess said that they would like me. And if someone like Jess said so, then it must be true." _Settling on the thought, Naruto closed his eyes once again. And in no time he was asleep.

The next morning...

"Wake up Naruto." said Jess as she gently nudged Naruto. With a tired yawn, Naruto rose from his pillow and rubbed his eyes.

"It seems that two little boys decided to get a peak at you last night." Naruto nodded slightly, remembering his late night meeting.

"But don't worry, they won't do you any harm."

"Well, they seemed really fascinated." said Naruto.

"Why wouldn't they be?" added Jess.

"Redwall has _never_ had a human as a guest, some of the mice here don't even know what a human is. So your presence is a special occasion here." The door suddenly opened. And in the doorway was Constance.

"Is Naruto awake?" she asked.

"Yes I am." said Naruto.

"Good, its best you tidy up and get ready."

"Get ready for what?" asked Naruto.

"We all had a talk last night. Since the little ones aren't prone to keeping secrets for very long, we thought it be best to confirm the rumors before they start." Naruto's expression looked rather confused at this.

"In other words, your meeting the rest of Redwall today." Naruto's heart almost skipped a beat.

"Today?" Naruto asked, fearing the obvious answer.

"Yes. The have all been gathered into the Great Hall, so its best not to keep them waiting." A moment later, Sylvia glided into the room.

"Father Abbot says to bring Naruto to the Great Hall now." she said.

"Very well then," said Constance.

"Its best we get going." Before Naruto could say anything, they were out the door. After a couple flights of stairs, they were back on the ground. With his hand interlocked in Jess' hand, Naruto walked along the damp snow covered path, Observing everything around him. The snow blanketed almost the entire ground, making it very cold. Yet despite the cold, Naruto was very warm thanks to his new robe. But the cold had the least of Naruto's interest. His eyes were drawn to the buildings and trees that made up Redwall. There were a hand full of buildings, big and small. The smaller ones were scattered around Redwall, the bigger ones were clustered together in the middle. Above all these stood a tall tower. According to Jess, in this tower was the Joseph Bell. From what Jess had told him, it was the crown jewel of Redwall Abbey. It was cast with the finest metals, and its beautiful music like ring could be heard all across Mossflower, giving hope and happiness to all who heard it. After a couple more minutes, they crossed over from the cold frosted ground through a large pair of doors into a warm hallway. Soon enough, Naruto could make out the sounds of voices nearby, signaling that they were near the Great Hall. Naruto couldn't help but feel a bit of relief upon hearing the voices. It wasn't all that loud, so maybe there wouldn't be that many. But as they walked, more voices started sounding. Then as they passed through one last doorway, they arrived in a massive room, lined with tables and chairs all around. And to Naruto's fright, sitting at those tables were not a couple mice, but hundreds of them!

"Oh no..." Naruto whimpered. Desperate to avoid their view, he quickly shuffled closely next to Jess. But thankfully they came up behind a single line of tables, hiding him from their view. This table held much older looking mice, including Father Abbot. Seeing Naruto was nice and settled, Father Abbot stood up and faced the mice filled room

"Alright now, settle down everybody." Father Abbot called out. In almost an instant, the room fell almost completely silent.

"Now before we begin breakfast, there is something of great importance I must announce first." There was a little moment of muttering and whispers among the mice, then they returned their attention to Father Abbot.

"As two particular dibbuns might already know, we have a newcomer here in Redwall Abbey." Naruto gripped Jess' hand tighter, its was only a matter of time now.

"But you must know, he is not from around Mossflower woods. In fact he had to travel all alone for over a week, until Jess here came across him." gasps of shock sounded in the crowd.

"He is sitting behind this very table as we speak, and very soon he will come out for you to see him." Naruto gulped. It was almost time.

"But first I must warn you, his appearance might be a little bit of a shock to most of you. But please don't be afraid of him. I assure you hes as kind and sweet as any creature in this Abbey." Father Abbot turned to Naruto.

"You may come out now." said Father Abbot. However, Naruto didn't move an inch. It took a slight tug from Jess to get him to budge. But even then he we walked deathly slow toward the end of the table, and into the sight of Redwall Abbey. With one final gulp, Naruto slowly stepped out from the cover of the table, his hand not leaving Jess' for a second. Now, every eye in the room was fixed upon him. At first Naruto looked away. But with a little encouragement from Jess, Naruto forced himself to gaze back toward the crowd. Within seconds, he clearly saw shock in all of their faces. Gasps and muttering begun popping up all around the mice as they stared at the little boy. His skin and hair, it was nothing like they had ever seen. Naruto could feel his legs begin to tremble as their gaze almost seemed to weight him down. If it hadn't been for Jess' hand, he probably would have sunken to the floor by now.

"This little boy is Naruto." said Father Abbot.

"Hes is not a mouse, squirrel or any creature your familiar with. He is known as a human." Chatter and whispers of shock and disbelief now seem to flood the entire room.

"You may wonder why Naruto has abandoned his own kind for ours. Back in his former home, his life was nothing but day to day torment." Naruto shuttered as his thoughts returned to those horrible days.

"He was ignored, hurt, and alone. Worst of all, he lacked what nobody should be without, a family." Feeling Naruto's trembling, Jess knelt down and hugged him close.

"So this is all that I ask of you, give him the love and respect his fellow humans failed to give. If you see him alone and in need of a friend, then be his friend. If he is lost in doubt and confusion, guide him down the right path. To some of you he may look strange, but inside he has a heart and feelings, just like all of you. So even with his human traits, hes no different from you, so embrace him and treat him as one of your own." With that, Father Abbot retook his seat.

"Now let us begin breakfast, but remember my words. Don't discriminate against him because of his appearance, make him feel wanted and loved. That's all I ask, and that's all he asks." For the next few minutes, plates and dishes of delicious looking food were laid out on the tables. Once all the tables were covered, the mice begun chowing down. Like last time, the food was heavenly. But Naruto had a very hard time even taking a bite. Because even when they were eating, he could feel their eyes on him. It seemed like the slightest move he made was like magic to their eyes. So with haste he finished up his breakfast and took refuge behind the table. He remained their for about half an hour, until he heard the sounds of plates clattering and footsteps walking out of the room, meaning that breakfast had ended.

"Come on Naruto." said Jess as she took his hand and pulled away from the table.

"Its time for you to make friends." Jess led Naruto out of the Great Hall and back outside. Within a few minutes, they stood before the orchard, which was infested older mice, and children his age.

"Now Naruto," said Jess as she knelt down to his height.

"The dibbun's love to play in the orchard, so this is a good opportunity to find some new friends." Even with Jess' encouragement and Father Abbot's words, Naruto still had his doubts.

"I'm not so sure," said Naruto.

"Whats wrong Naruto?" asked Jess.

"What if they don't like me?"

"Naruto," said Jess as she placed both hands on his shoulders.

"They will accept you, I know it."

"But..." Naruto begun.

"Trust me Naruto," Jess cut in.

"Now go. And don't worry, I'll be close behind." Naruto looked back toward the orchard, the sounds of the dibbuns playing and laughter close by. With a deep breath in, Naruto begun walking toward the sounds. As he walked, he looked around to see more mice wandering about. The moment he passed through their view, their eyes locked on to him. They all stared, just like the village. But however, something was different. Their eyes were filled with curiosity and fascination, not rage and anger.

"_They don't look mean." _Naruto thought to himself as he walked. In fact, he could see smiles on their lips as they gazed at him. It felt so warm and soothing to look back at them, while in the village he would have had a fist buried in his face for throwing as much as a glance at a villager. But then he was so fixated on their gazes, that he failed to notice he was about to walk directly into another mouse, that is until he finally bumped into him.

"_Oh no!" _Naruto's mind squealed as he fell to his bottom.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!" he wailed as he shielded himself with his arms, awaiting the brutal pounding of a balled up fist. He felt a hand reach upon him, and tensed up for it. But instead of a punch to the face, he felt the hand gently pat him on the head.

"Now now, why would I hurt a little one like yourself?" asked a friendly voice. Confused, Naruto looked up at the mouse and saw not anger, but a smiling face.

"You alright their lad?" asked the mouse as he help him back to his feet.

"Y-Yes." replied Naruto.

"Well that's good to hear. Oh and it's a real pleasure to finally meet a human in person." Then with another pat on the head, he walked on past him.

"Oh and I hope you like it here in Redwall!" he called over his shoulder, before walking off. Naruto was almost speechless.

"He didn't hurt me..." he said softly to himself. He then turned back toward the sounds, and saw that the dibbuns were in sight. His hopes now higher, he continued onward. As he made his approach toward the dibbuns, a series of voices fell upon his ears from two older female mice from behind.

"Well, I never thought I'd see a human in my lifetime." One girl said to the other.

"Yes," said the other girl.

"And you know what, I think hes an adorable little thing." Naruto's cheeks flared red the moment she said that.

"_Adorable..." _He thought. It seemed that everywhere he turned he saw a smiling face, and hear warm and comforting words.

"_I think Jess was right." _Naruto thought, his excitement growing within.

"_Everybody I've seen is so nice and-" _His thoughts were cut short by the shout of a nearby dibbun.

"Hear it comes!" it yelled. Naruto looked in the voice's direction, and coming towards him at full speed, was a snowball. Naruto's heart sank and his eyes widen with horror as he saw it get closer. Back in the village, every winter he would be pelted with enough snowballs to arm an entire army. They were always filled with rocks, broken glass, and on some occasions a kunai. Going to fast for him to dodge it, he knelt down and covered his head. Within seconds, he felt the snowball smack him square in the back. He braced for the pain and stinging, but was met with none. He opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder. He saw no rocks, glass or knifes of any kind in the remnants of the snowball that hung on his back.

"Hey you there!" a voice called out. Naruto stood back up to see a light brown mouse running up to him, his face glowing with cheer.

"We need one more, you want to join." Naruto looked behind the dibbun to see a whole group of young mice engaging in a playful war of snowballs, their laughter and shouts filling the winter air.

"Me...Play?" Naruto asked with near disbelief.

"Whats wrong, never had a snowball fight?" the mouse asked. Naruto was no stranger to snowball fights, but his reputation in the village made him the main target for all snowballs, making it more of snowball torment rather than a fight.

"Well, not exactly." Naruto replied. The mouse bent over and cupped some snow in his hand. With a little molding and pressure, it formed a snowball.

"Its easy!" said the mouse as he handed it to Naruto.

"Just throw it at the others, but don't get hit yourself." Naruto slowly took the ball from the mouse's hand, shivering slightly as it sent a wave of cold through him as it touched his bare skin. He looked back over at the group, and took aim at a nearby mouse. He reared his hand back, and hurled it right at him. It flew through the air for a few seconds, before meeting its target. To Naruto's surprise and delight, it didn't hurt the mouse either. In fact, he was laughing with joy.

"Nice throw!" said the mouse.

"Now come on!" he ran back toward the group. Naruto hesitated for a moment, then followed him. Naruto's main concern was cover for a bit of the fight. But eventually, he started throwing snowballs himself. And it wasn't long before he was laughing along with them. About a hundred yards away from the little war, Jess leaned on a nearby tree as she watched the snowballs fly. Her lips were lined with a warm smile as she watched Naruto play, his face happier then ever before.

"_To think, one day he was sad and alone..." _she thought to herself.

"_Now hes one of the happiest boys alive." _With her heart warmed by Naruto's laughter, she turned around and walked away, leaving Naruto with the dibbuns... his new friends.

For hours on end, Naruto and the dibbuns played nonstop. Their activities went from snowballs, to climbing trees, sledding, snow angels, and just relaxing and talking. And Naruto cherished every last moment. He had never had so much fun in his entire life, and he never wanted it to end. But soon nighttime raised it's ugly head, forcing them inside for dinner. Naruto and his friends took their seats in the Great Hall, awaiting the tasty dinner that was to come. Talk flowed through the room, until Father Abbot stood up and silenced everybody.

"The time has come again for us to gather for the feast." Announced Father Abbot.

"But I must say, from what I'm seeing at one of the tables, it seems that our newcomer Naruto has already found himself a good helping of friends." Naruto smiled at the Abbot's words.

"So I'd like to thank Jess here for going through thick and thin to bring such an excellent addition to our home, and I'd like to thank all of you for putting your aside differences and giving Naruto the love and care he deserves. And so without further ado, let us begun the feast." Within minutes, every corner of the tables were covered with food fit for a king. In no time, Naruto begun chowing down. Naruto ate his way through mountains of mashed potatoes, green beans, fruits, soups, and much much more. By the end of the feast, the sounds of eating and talk had been replaced with groaning and yawns as full stomachs and stomach aches plagued a majority of the mice. As the mice begun heading off for bed, Jess stayed behind to help gather dishes, until her eyes fell upon Naruto, whose head was slumped down on the table, and had enough food in his stomach to to feed an entire village.

"Looks like someone stuffed himself a little too much." Jess laughed as she walked to Naruto's side.

"I couldn't help it..." Naruto groaned as he pulled his head up to face Jess.

"It was all so good." Adding to his aching stomach, a belch shot out of his mouth.

"Excuse me." said Naruto, blushing slightly. Jess giggled.

"I thinks its time to get you into bed." said Jess as she scooped up Naruto and made her way out of the Great Hall. A few minutes later they arrived back in Naruto's room. She gently place Naruto in his bed and pulled the blankets over him.

"I told you they would like you." Jess teased as she finished tucking Naruto in.

"Yeah, I never thought I would have a single friend." said Naruto.

"But thanks to you, I have a whole bunch of them now!" Jess smiled and patted Naruto's head.

"Now get some rest Naruto, there's more fun to be had tomorrow." Naruto nodded and laid his head down into his pillow. Jess walked back toward the door and grabbed the knob.

"Sweet dreams Naruto." Said Jess, and then she closed the door. It didn't take Naruto long to get nice and comfy. But his path to sleep was cut off by Kyuubi's voice.

"**Well, looks like Redwall was the right choice after all." **said Kyuubi.

"_It sure was," _Naruto replied.

"_Its only been one day, and already I have more friends then I've ever asked for!" _Kyuubi chuckled.

"_And best of all, the ninja will never find me now! I bet they gave up a long time ago."_

"**Well I'm glad your happy now Naruto. Oh and since you've found yourself a home now, I think its appropriate we start training tomorrow." **Even in sleep, Naruto was overcome with glee.

"_Can't wait!" _Naruto cheered.

"**And if your wondering where and when we're doing it, we'll do it here in your mind every night."**

"_Why here?" _Naruto asked.

"**Time moves much quicker in your mind so we'll have more time to train, and what you learn in your mind also effects you in the real world. But mostly is to keep Redwall from knowing about this. If they see you doing juitsu and jumping all over the place, they'll obviously ask questions. And I don't think telling them about me is a smart idea."**

"_I agree with you on that one." _said Naruto.

"**So get some shuteye, we've got a WHOLE lot of work tomorrow." **With a smile on his face, Naruto slipped into a peaceful sleep. Finally, after a whole week of walking through the cold winter, Naruto found the perfect home. No troubles, no worries. The large walls and brave guards would shield him from dangers like Asmodeus and other forces of nature. But best of all, he hadn't heard from the ninja ever since that day. Despite their efforts, they had failed to return Naruto to that horrid village. And thanks to Kyuubi's chakra, tracking him was probably impossible. So yes, Naruto had all he ever wanted, and nothing was ever going to take him away from that.

Later...

Naruto woke up in the middle of the night, shivering from the neck down.

"Man its cold in here." groaned Naruto as he looked toward his window, and saw that it was open. He slid out of bed and walked over to close it.

"Stupid window." said Naruto as he gripped the window. But just as he was about to close, something flew right past his face from the window landed in his room. He looked to where it had landed, and saw what looked like a little ball.

"What the?" Naruto asked himself as he walked over to it. But then within the blink of an eye, it suddenly burst. Within seconds, the whole room had started to fill with smoke, obscuring his vision.

"(cough) what is this? (cough)" he said with surprise as he felt his way around, searching frantically for the door. Then, he could hear the sounds of movement outside his window, forcing him to double his efforts. He felt something cold and hard against his fingertips, so he grabbed it and gave it a twist. Thankfully it was the knob. He was about to open the door, when suddenly he was stopped by a voice.

"Naruto..." it said.

"Looks like we finally found you..." Naruto looked in the direction of the window. And to his horror, in the smoke he could make out the silhouette of a figure.

"That voice..." Naruto gulped. It was deep, rather old, but powerfully confident. Just like the voice of... No, it couldn't be! But as the smoke cleared, there was no denying it. For standing right in front of him, was none other than Jiraiya.

Well... an entire year without an update... I'm terribly sorry for not getting this up sooner, I've had a lot of work with school and recently DCI, but mostly because I've just been lazy. Expect more updates from me in the future, (If I'm not to lazy that is.) and continue to R&R.

Other things:

Just to let you know, yes Sylvia is my own character. I added her for a couple reasons. One, I really like snakes. Two, I'm getting tired of snakes ALWAYS being the bad guys. Seriously where the hell are all the good guys snakes?


End file.
